Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXV No. 8, August 1-15, 2015
Tribute
By R V Rajan
R. Desikan
Feedback welcome on rvrajan 42@gmail.com
R. Desikan, the well-known consumer activist who passed away a few weeks ago, began life promoting consumerism. They were just two parts of a man of many parts.
Born into a large family on June 7, 1932, he grew up in a village in Tirunelveli District. His father died when Desikan was in the first year of college, so he had to drop out, and never made it back for a degree. He made up for the lack of formal education by reading for hours at the Connemara Library in Madras.
During the first half of his life, he promoted the very consumerism he was to fight against later in life. As a representative of Imprint magazine and, later, as the Advertisement Manager of Reader‘s Digest (where he met his future wife Nirmala), Desikan persuaded scores of advertisers, both national and multinational, to release value of advertisements in the magazines. While at Reader‘s Digest, he pioneered the concept of the ‘Advertiser’s supplement’ – a 32-page insert on the topic of ‘Good Health’, consisting of 65% editorial material and 35% advertisements.
He was to follow the same persuasiveness when he launched his own slew of publications (publishing, as he used to say, was his first passion) under the banner of Speciality Publications. The first one off the Press was Indian Needlewoman, with wife Nirmala as the editor. The magazine was supported by Madura Coats, the well-known textile company based in Madurai.
Indian Needlewoman was followed by Indian Cookery. Later, Mangayar Malar, the first-ever Tamil magazine exclusively targeting women, was launched. Based on the success of Mangayar Malar, he combined the two English magazines to launch Indian Housewife, soon to be followed by a Hindi version, Grahani and Grahasthi.
Then, in 1977, Desikan thought of a local community newspaper to be distributed free, a first of its kind in South India. South Madras News, a weekly, was devoted to local news. The journal also paved the way for representing the problems of the South Madras community to the authorities. A natural corollary was the establishment of an NGO called SMN Consumer Protection Council in 1987. This was the beginning of Desikan’s avatar as an aggressive consumer activist.
By this time his over-ambitious publishing project ran into a serious financial crunch, he decided to close the unit. However, Desikan continued running a printing press for South Madras News. After trying out a couple of other businesses, he decided to cease all business activities and concentrate fully on consumer activism.
His experience with the SMN Consumer Protection Council led him to take an active interest in the Federation of Consumer Organisations in Tamil Nadu (FEDCOT). He became Chairman of the organisation and during the six years that he was involved with FEDCOT, he helped the membership grow from 12 organisations to 260 organisations .
He was now keen to play an active role in promoting awareness about consumer rights and responsibilities at the national level. His first foray was Concert (Centre for Education, Research testing and Training) which established in Chennai the first-ever fuel testing laboratory run by an NGO. Concert has also developed an adulteration detection kit and trained over 2500 women in Tamil Nadu to use it.
Next, he started an NGO called The Catalyst Trust with the objective of bridging the gap between grassroots people (aam aadmi) and government establishments. Catalyst is also active in championing electoral reforms. The flagship organisation of the group, Consumers Association of India (CAI), was started in 2001 to fight for consumer rights. CAI has helped thousands of consumers to get redressal for their problems without going to court.
Desikan had a major health crisis in 2006. When doctors had given up hope, he staged a miraculous recovery. He was back in action with greater vigour and energy to do what he was passionate about – fighting for the hapless Indian consumer!
An ad-man, journalist, printer, publisher, a pioneer of ideas, a visionary – more than all these descriptions of Desikan, what people will always remember him is for his role as a crusader for consumer rights. But I would like to remember him as a good friend, who was a game changer in my life.
In 1968, when he came to see me as a representative of Imprint canvassing for advertising, I was at Clarion Advertising, Bombay. I did not realise then that it would be the beginning of an enduring relationship lasting over 45 years. At a time when I was working hard to make a name in the world of advertising and the lack of social contacts due to my middle class background was coming in my way, he introduced me to Round Table, the international youth organisation, which opened up a whole new world to me. He was the President of Round Table India in 1970-71.
As my neighbour in Shastri Nagar, Madras, to which I moved from Delhi in 1974, he persuaded me to go for a daily walk to Elliot’s Beach Road – a healthy habit which has remained with me till date.
Desikan was truly a ‘friend in need’ for anyone who came seeking his help in any matter. I am sure thousands of his friends, both young and old, will vouch for this. He was also a great leader and motivator. The number of people he has inspired to take up consumer activism in the South is legion. His boundless energy and enthusiasm were infectious. Until his last breath he was talking about his dream projects for CAI. As he had always desired, he died with his ‘boots on’.
The best tribute that his followers and admirers can pay Desikan would be to help in taking forward his ideas for protecting consumers by supporting the activities of CAI.
