Venkatasubramanian subscribes to the books published by Siruvani Vasagar Maiyam. "Sir will usually attend all the programmes conducted by Siruvani Vasagar Maiyam. He is an avid reader ," stated G.R.Prakash, the fount of energy behind the organization. S.Venkatasubramanian was born in 1934 to Sivaramakrishnan and Alamelu. The family hails from Tripanithura and the family deity happens to be Venkaramanaswamy of Tirupathi. He had pursued his education from the Gokulanatha Hindu Mahajana High School in Salem and had completed his SSLC in 1952.
Venkatasubramanian subscribes to the books published by Siruvani Vasagar Maiyam. "Sir will usually attend all the programmes conducted by Siruvani Vasagar Maiyam. He is an avid reader ," stated G.R.Prakash, the fount of energy behind the organization. S.Venkatasubramanian was born in 1934 to Sivaramakrishnan and Alamelu. The family hails from Tripanithura and the family deity happens to be Venkaramanaswamy of Tirupathi. He had pursued his education from the Gokulanatha Hindu Mahajana High School in Salem and had completed his SSLC in 1952.
SVS (S.Venkatasubramanian) joined the survey department in 1953. "We used to be the first people to visit the site meant for a proposed project. I remember staying out in the open on a number of times. The survey would be done and land would be acquired by the authorities thereafter. It was a time when we walked, climbed and struggled. The place would not have got electrified. Lots of development took place under Rajaji and also R.Venkataraman. Hurricane lanterns were our constant companions. My training was at Rayakottah in Hosur Taluk. The end of the Zamindari system caused a lot of change. Land had to be measured and studied. Survey parties used to go from one place to another. I was in the No.2 survey party and we went from one village to another in order to measure the lands. We used to measure the lands prior to acquisition and the lands thus acquired was used for roads, projects and dams. Some of the lands were given to landless farmers too. We did not encounter much in terms of man animal conflicts for the people were yet to fully encroach upon the forests and the adjoining areas. The first department to visit any project site would be the survey department and the bhoomi pooja will be much later," stated Venkatasubramanian. This gentleman had put in a lot of labour and his experience has been useful for many of his successors. Venkatasubramanian had trekked a lot once upon a time.
Venkatsubramanian lived in Shevapet in Salem and had interacted with a number of Saurashtra people. The members of this community had been living in Salem, Madurai and Arni. The octogenarian recalled his experiences further, "The villages were very small. We used to cook our own food. All of us have slept in open places with one person standing guard. Thank God that we were safe. Our team members used to purchase materials once a week from a nearby shandy. Water was collected from a stream after rudimentary filtering. It used to stored in a beer bottle. A coconut shell was used for drinking water. We lived without much of water. Later on I went to work in Dharmapuri, then to Arni, then Vellore. I got transferred to Coimbatore in 1955. It was then the Madras Presidency. We went to Karkala, Moodbidri etc., for measuring the forests. I returned to the town and was posted as the Taluk Surveyor. Boundary disputes, sub division of lands for separate pattas etc., were looked into. I got married to Padmavathi of Triplicane in 1962. I have worked for the Malampuzha project. It was at a time when Kerala did not have sufficient man power and we were deputed. One and a half years were consumed here. Worked for the Parambikulam Aliyar, Sholayar projects too. We used to measure the land which belonged to tea estates and also count the number of tea plants. The compensation was paid based on both - the area and the count. They used to state that a gold sovereign existed under each tea plant. It was so yielding. There had been a number of European owners."
The surveyor had moved over to Salem in 1968 and had stayed there for along time. He had cycled all over Coimbatore during his younger days. His sons Sathyanarayanan and Sivaramakrishnan are married. He lives in Coimbatore these days and has been involved with the Sathya Sai organization for years. "I first saw Bhagwan Sathya Sai Baba in Pollachi and have been his follower ever since. I have also lived in Maharashtra because of my sons and have visited Shirdi and Nasik. These stays helped me to visit places like Ahmadnagar where Nehru had been incarcerated. It was an oppourtunity to visit Shirdi often. My involvement with the Sathya Sai movement gave me an oppourtunity to move with early followers like Pattabi Chettiar. I used to move with P.S.A.Subramaniam Chettiar and his son Srinivasan of Madurai. They lived in Sathya Sai Nagar. I saw Sai Baba when he was young and Puttaparthi did not have such big buildings those days," added Venkatasubramanian. His first salary had been Rs.50 and the DA was Rs.22. A contributory PF of Rs.5 had been in vogue.
Venkatasubramanian had worked at a time when many of his people were from other regions. They did not know Tamil and he used to write for them. In return, they used to cook for him. Work had been tough and was full of sacrifices. No newspapers, no news and they could not get anything in the villages. He had been an avid photographer during his bachelor days and it was his friend Ranganathan of Salem who had been his support. Ranganathan used to click, process and print. Venkatasubramanian did the same with his box camera. He used to spend about half his salary on photography prior to his wedding. The thousands of negatives were kept in boxes. He had been a shutter bug.
The octogenarian vividly remembers his experiences with three eminent people - His Holiness Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi, Bharathidasan and Jayakanthan. "I remember seeing Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi (Mahaperiyawal) in Chinna Tirupathi (Salem). His elephant would eat ice fruit everyday. One day, its mood was not alright and Mahaperiyawal came to know about this. He went to it and also asked everyone to move away. He enquired why it was upset and assured that it would be treated well. It became calm thereafter. It was a fantastic experience for me," added Venkatasubramanian. The octogenarian had witnessed this along with his mother. His mother had been a helpful and service minded lady. Venkatasubramanian had also attended to a number of lectures delivered by Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshithar.
Venkatasubramanian had stayed in one Bethel Building on a monthly rent during his sojourn at Chennai. The well known author Jayakanthan used to spend time in a room in order to register his thoughts in an undisturbed manner. "Jayakanthan used to come during the day time and leave by night. A hand drawn rickshaw puller used to drop him back home. I stayed in the next room for about two years and used to chat with him everyday. Kannadasan was a visitor too. I used to have tea with Jayakanthan and our office peons used to get things for him. Those were the days," smiled Venkatasubramanian.
"My unforgettable experience should be narrated here. I was once working in the Zamin Estate Office of the Kumaramangalam Family. The lands of the old Zamins were being taken over. Dr.Subbarayan of the family and others are quite well known. It was near the Kailasanathar Temple in Thiruchengode. One had use to coracle to travel to cross the Cauvery. Poet Bharathidasan came to Thiruchengode and I was lucky to host him in my room. In fact I had wanted to leave the room in order to ensure his privacy but he insisted that I stay back. The poet never liked to stay in lodges. He used to visit his people during the day or rest. The evenings were meant for meetings and he used to stay up late in the night. He wanted to know if I was getting disturbed. I was a night bird myself. We used to chat a bit and one day I got the guts to ask about Bharathiar. Immediately Bharathidasan patted his thighs and became cheerful. He used to address Bharathi as ' Ayyar ' and he told me that it meant brother. I was made to learn that one had to use the first Tamil alphabet ' A ' for writing the word Ayyar and not the Tamil letter ' I ' as in Iyer. Bharathidasan spoke like a child and told me that Bharathi lived in Pondicherry (French Territory) for sometime. Such freedom fighters had been known as ' Swadesi '. On learning that Bharathi was living nearby Kanakasubburathinam (Bharathidasan) used to meet him often and discuss Tamil. He had met Subramania Siva and Va.Ve.Su Ayyar in the residence of Bharathi. The poet was struggling to make ends meet and Chellammal Bharathi used to face financial issues. Bharathidasan used to slip out during meal times and return for a chat later. Bharathi used to call Subburathinam as his ' Rathinam ' (gem). Bharathi used to talk about Tilak with Swadesis," spoke Venkatasubramanian.
Bharathi had told Bharathidasan that Parasakthi tells him that he was intelligent. E.V.Ramaswamy Periyar was addressed as Erode Ayya by him. Bharathiar had seen the poems on Vinayagar and Murugan rendered by Bharathidasan. The family of Bharathidasan had been worried about these interactions. However they were assured that it was just a literary exchange. Bharathi had moved to Chennai and passed away. Bharathidasan came to know about it because of Chellammal Bharathi and had taken a long time to overcome his grief.
"Bharathidasan shared a literary anecdote with me one day. Bharathi showed a poem which began with the words...Vennilavum Vaanum Pola ….. and had stated that he was searching for the continuity. Immediately Bharathidasan had added the words.... Veeranum Koorvalum Pola.... No sooner did he do that, Bharathi had a solid pat of his back and stated BALE PANDIYA . This had been his way of expressing his joy, " recalled Venkatasubramanian. Bharathidasan had spent about 10 days with him. Venkatasubramanian had met Ki.Va.Jaganathan, Kirupananda Varier, M.Bhaktavatsalam (Chief Minister) and Chengalvaraya Pillai too.
The humble and subtle S.Venkatasubramanian lives in Coimbatore. His daughter in law Seethalakshmi was happy to facilitate the discussion. The trekking experiences and exchanges of the senior surveyor would encourage many more to rekindle their memories.
SVS (S.Venkatasubramanian) joined the survey department in 1953. "We used to be the first people to visit the site meant for a proposed project. I remember staying out in the open on a number of times. The survey would be done and land would be acquired by the authorities thereafter. It was a time when we walked, climbed and struggled. The place would not have got electrified. Lots of development took place under Rajaji and also R.Venkataraman. Hurricane lanterns were our constant companions. My training was at Rayakottah in Hosur Taluk. The end of the Zamindari system caused a lot of change. Land had to be measured and studied. Survey parties used to go from one place to another. I was in the No.2 survey party and we went from one village to another in order to measure the lands. We used to measure the lands prior to acquisition and the lands thus acquired was used for roads, projects and dams. Some of the lands were given to landless farmers too. We did not encounter much in terms of man animal conflicts for the people were yet to fully encroach upon the forests and the adjoining areas. The first department to visit any project site would be the survey department and the bhoomi pooja will be much later," stated Venkatasubramanian. This gentleman had put in a lot of labour and his experience has been useful for many of his successors. Venkatasubramanian had trekked a lot once upon a time.
Venkatsubramanian lived in Shevapet in Salem and had interacted with a number of Saurashtra people. The members of this community had been living in Salem, Madurai and Arni. The octogenarian recalled his experiences further, "The villages were very small. We used to cook our own food. All of us have slept in open places with one person standing guard. Thank God that we were safe. Our team members used to purchase materials once a week from a nearby shandy. Water was collected from a stream after rudimentary filtering. It used to stored in a beer bottle. A coconut shell was used for drinking water. We lived without much of water. Later on I went to work in Dharmapuri, then to Arni, then Vellore. I got transferred to Coimbatore in 1955. It was then the Madras Presidency. We went to Karkala, Moodbidri etc., for measuring the forests. I returned to the town and was posted as the Taluk Surveyor. Boundary disputes, sub division of lands for separate pattas etc., were looked into. I got married to Padmavathi of Triplicane in 1962. I have worked for the Malampuzha project. It was at a time when Kerala did not have sufficient man power and we were deputed. One and a half years were consumed here. Worked for the Parambikulam Aliyar, Sholayar projects too. We used to measure the land which belonged to tea estates and also count the number of tea plants. The compensation was paid based on both - the area and the count. They used to state that a gold sovereign existed under each tea plant. It was so yielding. There had been a number of European owners."
The surveyor had moved over to Salem in 1968 and had stayed there for along time. He had cycled all over Coimbatore during his younger days. His sons Sathyanarayanan and Sivaramakrishnan are married. He lives in Coimbatore these days and has been involved with the Sathya Sai organization for years. "I first saw Bhagwan Sathya Sai Baba in Pollachi and have been his follower ever since. I have also lived in Maharashtra because of my sons and have visited Shirdi and Nasik. These stays helped me to visit places like Ahmadnagar where Nehru had been incarcerated. It was an oppourtunity to visit Shirdi often. My involvement with the Sathya Sai movement gave me an oppourtunity to move with early followers like Pattabi Chettiar. I used to move with P.S.A.Subramaniam Chettiar and his son Srinivasan of Madurai. They lived in Sathya Sai Nagar. I saw Sai Baba when he was young and Puttaparthi did not have such big buildings those days," added Venkatasubramanian. His first salary had been Rs.50 and the DA was Rs.22. A contributory PF of Rs.5 had been in vogue.
Venkatasubramanian had worked at a time when many of his people were from other regions. They did not know Tamil and he used to write for them. In return, they used to cook for him. Work had been tough and was full of sacrifices. No newspapers, no news and they could not get anything in the villages. He had been an avid photographer during his bachelor days and it was his friend Ranganathan of Salem who had been his support. Ranganathan used to click, process and print. Venkatasubramanian did the same with his box camera. He used to spend about half his salary on photography prior to his wedding. The thousands of negatives were kept in boxes. He had been a shutter bug.
The octogenarian vividly remembers his experiences with three eminent people - His Holiness Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi, Bharathidasan and Jayakanthan. "I remember seeing Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi (Mahaperiyawal) in Chinna Tirupathi (Salem). His elephant would eat ice fruit everyday. One day, its mood was not alright and Mahaperiyawal came to know about this. He went to it and also asked everyone to move away. He enquired why it was upset and assured that it would be treated well. It became calm thereafter. It was a fantastic experience for me," added Venkatasubramanian. The octogenarian had witnessed this along with his mother. His mother had been a helpful and service minded lady. Venkatasubramanian had also attended to a number of lectures delivered by Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshithar.
Venkatasubramanian had stayed in one Bethel Building on a monthly rent during his sojourn at Chennai. The well known author Jayakanthan used to spend time in a room in order to register his thoughts in an undisturbed manner. "Jayakanthan used to come during the day time and leave by night. A hand drawn rickshaw puller used to drop him back home. I stayed in the next room for about two years and used to chat with him everyday. Kannadasan was a visitor too. I used to have tea with Jayakanthan and our office peons used to get things for him. Those were the days," smiled Venkatasubramanian.
"My unforgettable experience should be narrated here. I was once working in the Zamin Estate Office of the Kumaramangalam Family. The lands of the old Zamins were being taken over. Dr.Subbarayan of the family and others are quite well known. It was near the Kailasanathar Temple in Thiruchengode. One had use to coracle to travel to cross the Cauvery. Poet Bharathidasan came to Thiruchengode and I was lucky to host him in my room. In fact I had wanted to leave the room in order to ensure his privacy but he insisted that I stay back. The poet never liked to stay in lodges. He used to visit his people during the day or rest. The evenings were meant for meetings and he used to stay up late in the night. He wanted to know if I was getting disturbed. I was a night bird myself. We used to chat a bit and one day I got the guts to ask about Bharathiar. Immediately Bharathidasan patted his thighs and became cheerful. He used to address Bharathi as ' Ayyar ' and he told me that it meant brother. I was made to learn that one had to use the first Tamil alphabet ' A ' for writing the word Ayyar and not the Tamil letter ' I ' as in Iyer. Bharathidasan spoke like a child and told me that Bharathi lived in Pondicherry (French Territory) for sometime. Such freedom fighters had been known as ' Swadesi '. On learning that Bharathi was living nearby Kanakasubburathinam (Bharathidasan) used to meet him often and discuss Tamil. He had met Subramania Siva and Va.Ve.Su Ayyar in the residence of Bharathi. The poet was struggling to make ends meet and Chellammal Bharathi used to face financial issues. Bharathidasan used to slip out during meal times and return for a chat later. Bharathi used to call Subburathinam as his ' Rathinam ' (gem). Bharathi used to talk about Tilak with Swadesis," spoke Venkatasubramanian.
Bharathi had told Bharathidasan that Parasakthi tells him that he was intelligent. E.V.Ramaswamy Periyar was addressed as Erode Ayya by him. Bharathiar had seen the poems on Vinayagar and Murugan rendered by Bharathidasan. The family of Bharathidasan had been worried about these interactions. However they were assured that it was just a literary exchange. Bharathi had moved to Chennai and passed away. Bharathidasan came to know about it because of Chellammal Bharathi and had taken a long time to overcome his grief.
"Bharathidasan shared a literary anecdote with me one day. Bharathi showed a poem which began with the words...Vennilavum Vaanum Pola ….. and had stated that he was searching for the continuity. Immediately Bharathidasan had added the words.... Veeranum Koorvalum Pola.... No sooner did he do that, Bharathi had a solid pat of his back and stated BALE PANDIYA . This had been his way of expressing his joy, " recalled Venkatasubramanian. Bharathidasan had spent about 10 days with him. Venkatasubramanian had met Ki.Va.Jaganathan, Kirupananda Varier, M.Bhaktavatsalam (Chief Minister) and Chengalvaraya Pillai too.
The humble and subtle S.Venkatasubramanian lives in Coimbatore. His daughter in law Seethalakshmi was happy to facilitate the discussion. The trekking experiences and exchanges of the senior surveyor would encourage many more to rekindle their memories.