Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXXIV No. 5, June 16-30, 2024
A person capable of applying his attention simultaneously to many activities is referred to as an Ashtavadhani. The title would certainly fit T.A. Venkateswaran, popularly known as Isaikkavi Ramanan, who has enriched the world of performing arts with his talents as a thinker, writer, poet, actor, speaker, singer, photographer and performer.
I first met Ramanan at a Madras Book Club meeting where he was in conversation with a professor from Pondicherry on his book about Mahakavi Bharathi’s lifein Pondy. Ramanan was very articulate and impressed me with not only his knowledge of Bharathi but also his impeccable English. I came to know that he is a bilingual writer and speaker. From being a successful corporate honcho to a popular performer on the stage, Ramanan has come a long way in 20 years. He turned 70 on 30th March this year. I decided to explore his reinvention story for the readers of Madras Musings.
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Ramanan’s late father, Sri T.V. Anantaramaseshan was a scholar in English and Sanskrit. An M.A. (Hons) with a gold medal from the Presidency College, Madras. he taught Economics at Loyola College (1954 – 63) before he joined The Hindu as Assistant Editor, where he worked for 23 years. Later he was associated with the evening paper News Today. An expert in temple sculpture and architecture, he was instrumental in conducting 25 Kumbhabhishekams (temple consecrations). He composed 27 Suprabhatams (prayers for awakening the divine in the morning) on deities from Kanyakumari to Jageshwar. It is no wonder Ramanan has spiritualism in his blood. Ramanan also has imbibed the zest for life and enthusiasm from his 95 year old mother Savithri, who now lives with him.
Sandwiched between four sisters, three elder and one younger, all of whom were gifted singers, Ramanan had to be musical. However, only his youngest sister pursued a career in singing.
While in Ramakrishna Mission Boys High School, Bazlullah Road, in Chennai where he completed his SSLC, he used to participate in literary competitions. The first time he ever received a prize was when he was in his third or fourth class for singing Bharathi’s Vellai Thamarai. He fondly remembers receiving two volumes of Aesop’s fables (in Tamil) from Parali Su Nellaiappar, Bharathi’s close associate.
Recalling his student days Ramanan says, “For a poor student to whom even simple arithmetic was a horrible nightmare, studying Commerce in A.M. Jain College, Meenambakkam, was nothing less than a disaster. Most of my class hours were spent under the trees, penning poems or winning prizes in debates, oratorical competitions, essay writing, mono acting, recitation and so on. I was the Secretary of the Commerce Association once and Fine Arts Association later during which time, I could invite Kannadasan to our college” His tryst with Kannadasan and his songs probably started from that time.
Ramanan says that he never had any academic dreams, though he was always a dreamer. While poetry enticed him on one side, he was a natural mind watcher too. There is a vision that has stayed with him since he was 10 or so – that of an angler with a brown hat, reclining on a tree, facing a jungle brook, watching the flow of water silently.
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He joined The Hindu on October 1, 1977 as a Sales Representative in Chennai. When he became a Sales Officer he had to travel a lot, going on tour for three weeks a month. Apart from his travels, whenever he was in HQ, he was the official typist for the Circulation Department, worked for several nights in the packing and dispatch section and distributed newspaper in the early hours. Life was tough. The brighter side was that he saw a lot of movies, visited several temples and picked up working knowledge of Kannada and Telugu.
In 1989, he was promoted as Regional Manager, Visakhapatnam where he launched the Vizag edition. As a Regional Manager, he won several awards for achieving sales targets and also for his impressive presentations at the company`s annual conferences. Managers chosen for other regions used to be sent to Vizag for training.
Ramanan says, “I was instrumental in introducing an important software system for the Advertising department. I also played a big part in opening up The Hindu for regional and local advertisements such as front page solos, ear panels, local supplements etc.”
However poetry never left him. It provided the psychological relief and also the fillip to his enthusiasm for work.
What makes him invoke Goddess Parashakthi and his guru in most of his talks? What was the trigger that made him quit his job and get fully involved in creative pursuits?
Ramanan says, “I was in my ninth class when Sri Ma Vi Raghavan, our Tamil teacher recited a poem of Bharathi’s. Something hit me. Though I did not understand even the basic meaning, I was overwhelmed. It was in 1971 October that I started writing poems and a few years later, I started composing songs. Sometime between 1974 and 1976, on a sunny afternoon, I had a strange momentary experience. I had a vision of Bharathi and Ma Kali and I felt as though something invaded my consciousness. Parasakthi and Bharathi entered me together I should say. She is a palpable, living reality to me.”
His quest for Truth, took him to several gurus until he found the right one in Satguru Sri K. Sivananda Murty of Bheemunipatnam near Vizag who took him on several pilgrimages. Ramanan has so far visited the Himalayas 36 times.
“If I can say that my life is over and my living continues, I owe it all to my guru. He cured my psychological injuries through his love, taught me the real history of this great nation, made me understand the depth of our dharma and granted several deep spiritual experiences.”
“As the inner call was getting louder and as I realized that my slogging in a career was not worth all that martyrdom, I quit my job on 30th March 2005 with nothing else in my hand.”
Ramanan was 51 years old when he launched his new life as a performer. In the last 19 years his fan base has widened to not only within India but has also spread across the world. Because as a public speaker Ramanan provokes, stimulates and entertains – no matter whether the topic is literature, music, cinema, theatre, spirituality or culture. Ramanan’s voice rings out with bell-like clarity, every syllable distinct.
“I am more a talker than a speaker,” says Ramanan. “My talks are different, the audience do not feel any distance between them and me.” The talks are different also because he frequently bursts into songs – or into flowery lyric or infectious rhyme, His style is conversational, his tone is positive, he has a light witty touch. The audience is kept in good humour and glued to its seats.
Over the years he has addressed members of literary or cultural associations, music sabhas, students of MBA or engineering, school children, parents and corporates. The topics are diverse too: Thirukkural, Bharatiar, Kannadasan’s film songs, spiritual discourses. And self-improvement topics such as communication skills, positive attitude, personal management and conflict management.
He has been on lecture tours to the US, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Sri Lanka. He has spoken at temples, university auditoriums, radio stations, the basements of a few houses.
Though he is very popular for his singing, Ramanan says that he has no formal training in music. He says, “I have imbibed a feel for music from my mother and also sisters. Tunes happen to me though I cannot set my own poems to tunes. I am spontaneous! Yes, my music is inseparable from my poetry and it is clearly the gift of my Parasakthi. Again, I am not a scholar; not at all a well-read person; I have an intuitive feel for things, thanks to the blessings of my guruji. He provides that edge.”
Ramanan is also a prolific writer. So far he has published 40 books in Tamil, five in English. The Intimate Unknown, a book in English he wrote about his guruji is close to his heart.
In Tamil, his two books on Kannadasan, one each on Bharathi and Kamban and one titled Pala Mugangal Sila Ninaivugal are his favourites. Another book which is popular is his biography of Director K.Balachandar titled Sigaram for which he interacted closely with K. Balachander for six to eight months.
“Since I refused to accept money from him for the biography, Balachandar invited me to act in a serial directed by him . During the shootings he always insisted that I should be given a chair beside him. Till the end, he addressed me as Ramanan Sir despite my protests.” says Ramanan.
His other publications include 12 books of his poems, 19 books of his essays. He has also translated three books from English to Tamil and one from Tamil to English.
Ramanan has also been an actor on stage as well as on the small screen. He has participated in over 1,400 television programmes. The only movie in which he played a good role did not see the light of day. He has acted in four serials.
As regards theatre, he acted in a small role in the English play Free Outgoing by Crea-Shakthi Dushi, directed by Mahesh Dattani. In Tamil theatre, it was SBS Raman who invited him to write a play based on his father’s (Sri S. Balachander) famous movie Andha Naal and also play the lead role in it.
Ramanan has also written and acted as Bharathi in the play Bharathi Yaar which has been staged in several cities in India and abroad.
Ramanan says, “Playing the role of the Mahakavi who died when he was hardly 39 at 70 is indeed challenging.” He is also acting as Bharathi in a serial produced by Krishnaswamy Associates, currently being aired on Doordarshan in Tamil.
One of his most popular programmes in recent years sponsored by Krishna Sweets and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is Kalangalil Avan Vasantham, a series on songs of Kannadasan which has already seen over 100 shows in six years.
Ramanan has received over 45 awards and recognitions in the last 19 years since he started his new innings as a performer. The prestigious Kalaimamani Award from Tamil Nadu government for the year 2018 was bestowed on him in 2019.
Ramanan says, “I value all of them but the title “Isaikkavi” is the one I cherish most as it has become part of my name. It is special because it was not given by any organisation but by my friend Mahesh Krishnan who presented me a memento with the inscription “Isaikkavi”, after a talk in English I gave in Los Angeles in 2006.”
Anuradha is the woman behind the successful Ramanan for the last 43 years. He calls her his guardian angel.
‘She also has a flair for languages and is very fluent in Tamil, English, Hindi, Telugu and to some extent in Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam too. A thoroughly no-nonsense person, I have never suffered from boredom in married life, thanks to her company” says Ramanan.
The couple is blessed with twins, Anand and Vikram. Anand lives in Boston with his wife Priya and children Shivsundar and Aadhya. Vikram lives in Madurai with his wife Deepthi and son Kumara Seshan. The sons and daughters-in-law sing well. So do Kumara Seshan and Aadhya who have started learning music.
A blessed family indeed!
“A happy, noisy family!” says Ramanan. “I am not special in any way but very fortunate in every way”.