Coimbatore has been a hub for entrepreneurship. There have been several companies, firms and institutions that have added wealth to the people of this region. Numerous partnership firms deserve special mention. The founders of these entities had done their best. ' Minsara Jothi ' M.Natesa Pillai ( 1901 - 1989 ) from Mappedu near Tambaram was an interesting entrepreneur. He was born to Manickkam Pillai and Lakshmi Ammal at the dawn of the twentieth century. Natesa Pillai had lost his father early and therefore he had to stay with his aunt. A country impoverished by the British added to his difficulties. He used to get up early, attend to chores like taking care of the cows among other things. This used to be followed by a meal which consisted of sambar and rice. He used to be off to school thereafter. The Kula Deivam happens to be Ponniamman in Nedunkunram ( Chennai ).
Coimbatore has been a hub for entrepreneurship. There have been several companies, firms and institutions that have added wealth to the people of this region. Numerous partnership firms deserve special mention. The founders of these entities had done their best. ' Minsara Jothi ' M.Natesa Pillai (1901 - 1989) from Mappedu near Tambaram was an interesting entrepreneur. He was born to Manickkam Pillai and Lakshmi Ammal at the dawn of the twentieth century. Natesa Pillai had lost his father early and therefore he had to stay with his aunt. A country impoverished by the British added to his difficulties. He used to get up early, attend to chores like taking care of the cows among other things. This used to be followed by a meal which consisted of sambar and rice. He used to be off to school thereafter. The Kula Deivam happens to be Ponniamman in Nedunkunram (Chennai).
The father Manickkam Pillai had been good with accounts and had also taken to farming. Natesa Pillai grew up and began his career at M.T.Rajen & Company in Chennai. He stayed in Villivakkam those days. Natesa Pillai married (1923) Kanakavalli Ammal (1907 - 1998), the daughter of Kuppuswamy Pillai and Andal. The family hailed from the same kind of background as Ramalinga Vallalar and was vegetarian. Natesa Pillai and Kanakavalli were blessed with N.Ramachundhiran (1927 - 2016), Sambamurthi (1933 - 2014), Balasubramaniam, Parvathi and Valli. The bosses of M.T.Rajen & Co had branches in Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore and Madurai. Natesa Pillai took his work seriously and he was appointed as the Manager of the Salem Branch. He was later posted as the head of operations in Coimbatore. The office was at Variety Hall Road and he lived along with his family in the same premises.
Natesa Pillai began to function from Avinashi Road and he opened a hardware store N.Ramu Bros (Hardware) in 1936 . He began selling a lot of ' Made in England ' items and the firm became very popular. "Grandfather was an efficient businessman and he made a name for himself. All the farmers from the mofussil would be found waiting in the neighbourhood of the store in order to purchase GI pipes and other items. Meanwhile his purchases at the time of the second world war created a fortune for him. A ship of goods acquired at this time enriched him further. He built a big house ' Kanaka Villa ' at Father Rhondy Street in R.S.Puram in the year 1942. The house used to be visible from Rathina Vinayagar Temple. My father's friends and teachers had wanted to know if grandfather was building a cinema theatre. Grandfather had built a good name for himself and his clients were from far and wide, " stated Chamma (S. Shanmughan, the son of N.Sambamurthi).
All the major Tea Estates were the clients of Natesa Pillai and he supplied to Tea Estates India Limited for a number of years. He had done his SSLC and was an avid learner. He was quick to pick up English and he would be present in a suit for meetings with Europeans. He used a bullock cart to go to his office everyday and the cart man was in the payroll. A Chevrolet Fleetmaster was among his favourites and he relished a standard menu at 4 PM everyday. "Someone from the shop would go to C.S Hotel and get bajji, getti chutney along with some fine filter coffee. Badam halwa was also part of the deal. Clients present at the office would also be served the delicacies. I used to wait for the leaf rolled snacks at the office during my childhood days. However sambar, rice and ghee was his favourite. Grandfather ate this sambar sadham twice every meal. He was an affectionate grandfather and was known to consult Dr.Ganapathy often. He used to take us along at times of cold or cough along with him. I remember Dr.Ganapathy giving us some sweetened homeopathic tablets at the time of our visit," recalled Chamma of Caliber Designs. He is a member of Rotary Uptown.
M.Natesa Pillai would travel all over Tamilnadu and was known for his high quality book keeping. He used to maintain note books for his tasks. Natesa Pillai was known to sleep only after completing his accounts everyday. A late night of work was always welcome. After all, he hailed from the Chitra Guptha tradition. He made sure that he found time to visit Palani regularly. His contributions were many. "Father in law had offered a silver Mayilvahanam to Lord Muruga at the Rathina Vinayagar Temple. His birthdays took him to Palani and he would feed a 1000 people through the Sadhu Swamigal Madam. A nice flagrance used to waft out of the madam and it used to be a sight watching mendicants taking the kanji (gruel) in their Thiruvodus (a multi purpose vessel) . The others used to have a sit down meal with vadai and payasam. He used to decorate the venues connected with the Sri Rama Navami celebrations and Purandara Dasar Aradhanas with wonderful lighting. The society of the day honoured him with the title ' Minsara Jothi". He loved Thiruppugazh, Thevaram and the festivals at home were held under the guidance of my mother in law Kanakavalli Ammal. The Navarathri Kolu was an important event. We made one sundal per day. My co sister Saraswathi and myself were part of the preparations. We used to serve payasam, cashew burfi and badam halwa to the guests. Following our tradition was part of our life," smiled Koteesswari Ammal, the wife of N.Ramachundhiran. The violin playing octogenarian was born to Mirasdar Utharamerur Subramania Pillai and Nagammal (known for her knowledge of music). Koteesswari Ammal was married in the year 1951 to N.Ramachundhiran . The couple are blessed with Dr.Bhaskar, Ravishunkar (Past District Governor of Rotary) and Shivakumar.
Koteesswari Ammal teaches Thevaram and Thiruppugazh from her house and she does so on an honourary basis. She had received her Deekshai from Bommapuram Swamigal. Swarna Somasundaram , Koteesswari Ammal and her co sister Saraswathi used to sing bhajans at the Rathina Vinayagar Temple. N.Ramachundhiran B.E., F.I.E ., the first son of Natesa Pillai had worked in the electricity department before moving over to business. N.Ramu Bros (Elektrical) was founded in 1954 and it was a premier firm selling generators and also delivering turn key projects. Ramachundhiran was closely associated with Rotary and had served as the President of - Rotary Club of Coimbatore. He had been eagerly hosting and participating in discussions on J.Krishnamurti and his work. In fact Ramachundhiran had translated the book ' Beyond Violence ' (Vanmuraikku Appaal) into Tamil. Ramachundhiran was known for his birthday calls and birthday post cards. People used to look forward to get his wishes year on year.
The founder of N.Ramu Bros (Elekrical) Natesa Pillai was a close friend of Asoka M.K.Krishna Chetty, S.R.P.Ponnuswamy Chettiar, Dr.Ganapathy and he used walk in Race Course along with them. P.A.Raju Chettiar used to be part of this group of walkers and it used to be a sight to see their huge American cars dropping them off and picking them up.
' Minsara Jothi ' Natesa Pillai left his mark in the commercial world of his times. Worth emulating.