The man who could never say ‘No’

by N.S. Parthasarathy

Commissioned biographies are usually hagiographies. Only the positive aspects of the subject’s life are generally looked at in them; unpleasant events and experiences are slurred over or said in a manner that does not diminish the subject’s stature in the eyes of the reader. That is not this biography – not with the subject’s immediate family and the author agreeing to tell it “as it really was”.

This biography of a larger-than-life Madras personality, T.T. Vasu written by S. Muthiah, and titled, T.T. Vasu – The Man who could Never Say “No”*, was released recently.

The one feature that dominates any description of Vasu is his naiveté on financial matters leading to unpleasant consequences to him and his extended family. A connected incident that moves the reader is when Arun, his son, who is trying to build a life of his own, comes home after settling large liabilities, the inevitable consequences of his father’s indiscriminate trust in people, and says: “Dad, I have cleared everything. Are there any more you are not telling me about?”

T.T. Vasu.

The speeches of the two sons, Arun and Arvind, at the book launch function, showed that they could admonish him, laugh at his whims but not fail to give him their boundless love. Their father’s endearing qualities – his ever-readiness to help people in trouble, his ability to reach out to all with no distinction of status, his blind trust in others, his love of music, fondness for Hollywood movies and ability to derive joy from simple things of life – overweighed his faults of omission and commission. Even his obsession with punctuality became idiosyncratic – sometimes with hilarious consequences. Chapter 20 covers the visit of President Kalam to the Music Academy. Vasu was fuming as the event went out of his famed minute-by-minute schedule! The author is at his humorous best in describing this event.

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From a son of a former Finance Minister, a respected colleague of Nehru himself and an intellectual, society probably expected much, especially in the business field which provided the springboard for T. T. Krishnamachari to rise to national recognition. But Vasu’s business contribution became less recognised than his flair for Public Relations, becoming the prominent public face of the family business, his brothers choosing to keep a low profile. He was often mistaken as the Chairman of the Group while in actual fact this position was that of Narasimhan, his elder brother. Narasimhan himself wondered how this came about when it was his visions that Vasu implemented – and then dropped out one by one.

Vasu’s business contribution was in sinking, on behalf of the TTK Group, the roots of the Pond’s cosmetics project, London Rubber Company for the manufacture of condoms and Maps and Atlases. It was on his own behalf that he tried to get Adyar Gate Hotel going. All of them were projects before their time, the 1970s. But when they became successes, he was nowhere on the scene.

He just would not stay the course for one reason or another. He may have seen a growing number of women seeking beauty aids as they came out of their homes in greater numbers, of family planning becoming government policy (many called Vasu the ‘Father of Family Planning in India’), of maps and atlases becoming vital tools of education, and a tourist growth demanding five-star excellence in hotels, but except in the case of the hotel project in which friends and family refused to help him with further investment, he did not stay wedded to the start-ups. Detailed follow-through was not for him – yet, later, when he was out of the TTK Group and became President of the Music Academy, he showed a won’t-let-go sustainability never seen before in his life. He was successful in forging excellent relationships with collaborators, the English, the Americans, the Germans and the Singaporeans. But there was no putting pressure on them to get more for the TTK Group.

As, his business pursuits took less of his attention, his active participation in cultural and social welfare activities and in promoting better international relations, for Tamil Nadu, if not the country grew. Not many of his generation have such an enviable record. He presided over the orphanages and child welfare activities of Bala Mandir, over the community healthcare activities of the Public Health Centre, and gave much time to the social welfare organisations run by the women of the TTK family. It was with much distinction that he presided over the affairs of prestigious organisations like the Indo-American, Indo-German and Indo-Japanese Chambers. To him, these were not ornamental positions. He helped them with his high level contacts to find solutions to their problems. He was a specialist at building bridges for them in India.

* * *

Stina, Vasu’s wife, critic and adviser, says with admirable detachment and candour that it was his ego that prevented her husband from saying “no” whenever such a response was warranted. Padma Narasimhan, his brother’s wife, who played a mother-like role to Vasu, admonishes him as being irresponsible in money matters. Another view was that he was driven by a desire to “blaze his own trail” as captain of industry, to prove himself to his extended family. And when that didn’t happen he focussed on making it happen at the Music Academy. Despite his lack of interest in Carnatic Music and Bharata Natyam, he made them become part of an unforgettable ‘Season’, the ‘event of the year’, at the Academy. He also encouraged the younger generation to flourish in these classical arts that he himself had not paid attention in his youth.

Vasu was a strong believer and did not miss the pujas on important days or to meditate every day for a little while at the Ganesha temple in his own compound. He checked on rahu kaalam for starting any important work and could be dubbed as being superstitious. But he also smoked and liked his drink. He was deeply interested in Western music and Hollywood movies. He married Stina from a totally different culture bringing her into a conservative family environment. To say that the partnership did just not merely last but was truly successful is not only due to his adaptability but, more importantly, to Stina for successfully assimilating into a vastly different cultural environment. She stood by Vasu, traditionally attired, on important religious occasions. She seemed to build the bridge between East and West. For his part, when in Sweden he, a strict vegetarian, went fishing to be a part of his wife’s world.

Vasu, indeed, lived in two worlds – the traditional and the modern – and could cope with the resultant contradictions not by tactical manoeuvre but by his adaptability and naturalness, free of affectation and posturing. He was a “natural” like Vishy or Frank Worrel in cricket – playing the shots that came to him, free flowing strokes, unmindful of the scoreboard but hungering for the sheer delight that it gave him. And the delight bubbled over to the onlookers.

* * *

It could not have been an easy task to write this biography. The disputes and differences in the family are handled with delicacy without suppressing reality and shared with the reader with unusual but refreshing frankness. It is everything told, withholding nothing. And in the process the author uncovers the endearing side of Vasu’s inner self.

Vasu is an enigma. It is difficult to capture the essence of his personality in a brief title to his biography. The author must have thought of different options for a suitable title to sum him up: Vasu – An Enigma or Vasu – The Man Who Lived in Two Worlds, Vasu – Reconciling the Irreconcilable. I give up. It must be conceded that the title chosen by the author referring to our subject as a person who  could never say “no”, seems to encapsulate his personality – reaching out to all, ever ready to help and having unquestioning trust. In the -picture on page 13 of the book, young Vasu with an eager -expression seems to be waiting for his father’s judgement – or was it affection?

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