C.N.Madhavan lives in Ganapathy. He had served in the telephone department for 35 years ( 1953 - 1988 ). "I was the telephone inspector and my job was ensure that users and the telecom employees did not misuse the infrastructure. Unauthorized connections were identified and action was taken on the erring people. Work took me to Coonoor, Mettupalayam and Tirupur," smiled the author who has written over 100 short stories.
A picture of Saint Vadiraja (rendered by Maniam Selvam) adorns the pooja room of this simple house. The Kula Deivam is Namakkal Narasimhan. Madhavan and family had purchased a plot from Doraiswamy Gounder (Selvam Agencies) and built (1976) their home. "Doraiswamy Gounder assured us that it will be a good neighbourhood and he fulfilled his commitment. We are happy here," added C.N.Madhavan. He is also the author of the Tamil novel, Cholar Kula Suriyan. It is perhaps the only work of fiction based on the life of a Sangam era ruler.
C.N.Madhavan was born to Narasinga Rao and Subadhra Bai in 1930. His paternal uncle Subba Rao was known as M.A. conqueror and had taught at the old London Mission School. Madhavan had done his schooling at St.Michaels High School on Big Bazaar Street. The family had lived on R.G.Street and he was born there in his family residence. His mother was an avid reader. Madhavan remembers his mathematics teacher K.S.Ramanatha Iyer.
The author recalled a protest led by him in school, "I was a lover of Tamil literature. One Pulavar Sundararasan was our teacher. One day he began his atheist propaganda while teaching Kamba Ramayanam. I protested and walked out of the classroom. All the others followed me and we placed our grievance with the Head Master. I was the class monitor at that time. Our Head Master heard us out and he directed the teacher to stick to the syllabus. He advised him not to needlessly use words which would disturb the peace of the classroom. The teacher apologized and we were back in the class."
Incidentally C.N.Madhavan came did very well in Tamil by securing the first rank (73 marks) in the state . He was the school first (63 marks) in English. He went on to do an Intermediate at the Government Arts College. "Father wanted to join the art school at Chennai but economic conditions did not permit him to proceed.
He was the third among seven sons. However he continued to pursue his interest. He ran a few 'Kai Ezhuthu Pathirigais' (hand written magazines) for some time. This was about 70 years ago. He use to write, draw and edit articles /stories written by others for the magazine. There were a few advertisers who supported his efforts. Father used to draw the design and draw the advertisements in both his magazines 'Geetha' and 'Ulagam'.
The hand written magazines used to be bound and circulated among the readers. The readers used to give their feedback by writing letters to him. The best letters were published in the subsequent issue and a prize of Rs.5 was given to the winners. He simply loved to work on these magazines. His drawings, sketches, cartoons and presentations were appreciated by many," stated Sujatha Sanjeevi the daughter.
The young C.N.Madhavan was well received for his work preceded him everywhere. Ki.Va.Jagannathan, Bharathidasan, Na.Sanjeevi, Mu.Varadarasanaar, Mu.Karunanidhi, V.R.Nedunchezian, K.A.Madhiazhagan and many others have given good remarks about him in the hand written magazines itself.
C.N.Madhavan was always into reading, writing and painting. These interests were his priority and therefore marriage took place at the age of 32 (1962) to Chandra. His father in law Kaliprasad was a mridangam vidwan and used to perform alongside U.R.Jeevarthinam while another relative Venkataramana Rao was a harmonium player.
C.N.Madhavan used to write for the magazines Mohini, Rasigan, Om Sakthi, Rasanai, Dhaarmeega Hindu and a number of others. Sardar Vedarathinam Pillai had also written for Dhaarmeega Hindu. Madhavan used to be paid Rs.5 for each of his short stories. The author had written the Thiruvalluvar Year and Gandhi Year on the content page of his magazines. He had a very creative and novel in his approach. His motivation had been the famous artist Manian and Kalki the multi faceted writer. La.Sa.Ramamirtham was close to him and had paid him visits. Prof Rathinam, the bird lover has been his friend for life. "Bhageerathan of Om Sakthi was a good editor. He had been with Kalki earlier. It was during his time that Om Sakthi resembled a digest. Later on Bhageerathan started the magazine Gangai and it was a good attempt. Dr.N.Mahalingam of Sakthi Sugars was responsible for a number of literary activities in Coimbatore. I used to write during the night hours for the day was devoted to work.
The author used to write about politics and had attended the meetings of Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali. He did so by cutting the mathematics class and the teacher had been K.S.Ramanatha Iyer.
"I was known as Maadhu and my uncle, the world famous Dwaita scholar B.N.K. Sharma used to prefer calling me so. My mother's grandfather was the well known Cochi Rangappachar who had served the Cochin Principality. The Tripanithura Palace had been the headquarters for the kingdom those days. The Raja of Cochin used to visit our family home in Raja Street and he used to draw sit in the 'thinnai' out of reverence for his Rajaguru. Therefore this thinnai (seat) came to be known as 'Raja Thinnai'. Life was different those days. Long ago, there lived one Prathima Krishnachar in town. He was forever engaged in prayer. One day the people of the town left their homes at the time of a raid by a band of dacoits. Krishnachar stayed back and the dacoits entered his house wrapped him in fabric and set fire to him. Oh those were difficult days," added C.N.Madhavan.
C.N.Madhavan is very clear. He wants the best of everything for the people and is a true centrist. The author believes in preserving tradition and his approach is inclusive. He is fluent in his mother tongue Kannada and simply loves Tamil. C.N.Madhavan spoke about the good old 'Divine Tamil' which had shepherded the literary culture of South India. He continues to read books that belong to his grandchildren - Sujani and Raghavendra Krishna.
Tilak, Gokhale, Bharathiar and V.O.Chidambaram Pillai are live in his sketches. The design of the magazines, the lay out, handwriting are excellent. One Lakshmi and Kumari have answered the letters written to the magazine. He happily acknowledges the role of popular writer cum speaker Rasan as the deputy editor. The advertisement of 'The Star Bakery & Hotel' on Jail Road smiles beautifully on the back wrapper while the front wrapper has Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi in one of the issues. C.N.Madhavan had used the pen name N.M.Adhavan. Poetry was his forte too.