"Swarna Hotel in Peelamedu was located opposite to GRG Matriculation Higher Secondary School. They used to serve a good lunch in this simple hotel. A few of my classmates - Nisha , Suganya Prabha, Usha and Umashanthi used to join me for lunch at Hotel Swarna. We used to have this outing once in a few months and I remember my father encouraging this get together," recalled Dr.A.Bharani. She is an Associate Professor at TNAU (Tamilnadu Agricultural University). Bharani is with the Department of Environmental Sciences.
"Swarna Hotel in Peelamedu was located opposite to GRG Matriculation Higher Secondary School. They used to serve a good lunch in this simple hotel. A few of my classmates - Nisha , Suganya Prabha, Usha and Umashanthi used to join me for lunch at Hotel Swarna. We used to have this outing once in a few months and I remember my father encouraging this get together," recalled Dr.A.Bharani. She is an Associate Professor at TNAU (Tamilnadu Agricultural University). Bharani is with the Department of Environmental Sciences.
Bharani's father Alagiriswamy (1926 - 2010) was born to Guruswamy Asari and Thayammal at Edaiseval in Tuticorin District. He was the second among five sons and could not pursue formal education due to extreme financial distress which was prevalent those days. The family deity happens to be Venkatalakshmi Ambal. Her shrine is at Karisalpatti village near Sattur. However the family used to take the kids to the Alagar Temple in Madurai for tonsuring and ear piercing.
Alagiriswamy never went to school. In fact he had not stepped into a school for his studies but could read and write. He was capable of taking queries in English but would reply in Tamil. Family interest was high on his priority and therefore he sacrificed his educational career. He moved over to Coimbatore in search of greener pastures and it happened in the year 1948. Coimbatore was a big jewellery manufacturing centre by then and a number of aspiring youngsters chose to seek their fortunes in the Rome of Kongunad. Alagiriswamy came to known as Thambayya Asari and he joined one ' pattarai ' in order to become a professional jewellery manufacturer. About 10 people or so used to stay put in one place and they made their own food while pursuing their vocation.
Hard working Thambayya picked up fast and he set up his own smithy by the year 1953. He married Guruvammal in 1957 and the couple were blessed with two girls and four boys. "Father was a kasumalai expert and he made bodhu necklaces also. There were about 10 smiths who worked under him. He had a good set of clients. I still remember some names - M.Ramalingam of M.R & Sons, Sri Lakshmi Jewellery (K.P.Subbian), AVR of Salem, P.A.Raju Chettiar and Rani Jewellery Jayagopal. His first order had been from Pandurangan Chettiar of Lalitha Jewellery on Big Bazaar Street. He would get up 5:30 AM, get ready and go for a walk till Poomarket with his friends. Vegetables would be picked up on the way and he would return home in order to begin work by 7:30 AM. Coffee was from Annapoorna but it had been Mohana Vilas earlier.
Work used to go on after 11 PM too. We still have the old rose wood cupboard which used to be the storage point for all the gold and also the work in progress. Quality, service and integrity were of utmost importance. He used to chew vettrilai (betelnut leaves) while working on gold. Uncle Veluswamy used to make odiyanams. Each piece would take few months and he used to work with a small team," stated Dr.A.Bharani while talking about her father.
Alagiriswamy's elder brother was also known as Alagiriswamy and he known as Chinnayya in the village. The elder Alagiriswamy was the winner of the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award for his short story collection in Tamil. He received the award in 1970. Thambayya Asari used to send money to his village for sometime and after stabilizing himself, he brought them to Coimbatore. His father had suffered from visual impairment. The mother Thayammal was known for her oratorical skills. She used sit in the Panchayat Thinnai and recite verses from the Ramayanam on every Ekadasi in the native village. She used to render explanations for these verses which were from the ancient Kamba Ramayanam. People from Edaiseval used to listen her all night. She had been a good story teller. Writer Ki. Rajnarayanan was a neighbour in Edaiseval and both the brothers - Chinnayya Alagiriswamy (writer) and Thambayya Alagiriswamy (goldsmith) were very close to him. The families continue to cherish the friendship .
"Father was associated with the freedom struggle and was also a communist. He used to be in hiding at Tirunelveli and used to walk to Edaiseval for having kambancool at home. He was well known to the famous Communist leader Jeevanandham. However father believed in our culture and tradition. Father preferred to eat on a plantain leaf and was good with his eating etiquette. He liked idli and mutton kulambhu. Biriyani was not so popular those days. But he used to stay away from non vegetarian food during the Tamil months of Purattasi and Chithirai. He used to fast on every Purattasi Saturday and used to offer a padayal to the crow on the third Saturday. Lord Alagar would enter the River Vaigai in Madurai during the month of Chithirai and father would wait to hear the news from our family Murphy radio before breaking his fast. He believed in God but would not discuss religious subjects with the comrades. Father used to talk communism for hours together and my brother's friend became a communist because of my father's influence. He made notes in a diary and I still have a few of them with me. The diary was his account book too," smiled Bharani while sharing snippets about her father. She had been brought up like a son by him.
Thambayya Asari had taken a lot of efforts to bring up his kids. He had been a helpful person and he had a lot of respect for his elder brother. His helpful nature made him borrow money and provide assistance to the needy. Thambayya did not earn much but he had earned a lot of goodwill. He was about 60 years of age when he bought a house at Srinivasa Raghavan Street in R.S.Puram. His wife Guruvammal was an innocent lady. She accompanied her husband through and through. There were times when the draconian Gold Control Act pushed him out of work and he had to sustain by running some looms for sometime. The wife was the backbone and support through his ups and downs. Her hospitable nature made her endearing to the friends of all her kids. Thambayya Asari wanted his daughter Bharani to go abroad and she fulfilled his wish by visiting Adelaide in Australia on work. He had been progressive and let his daughters move around in order to watch movies with her friends.
"Father was a forward thinking person. He wanted me to have the prefix ' Dr ' in front of my name. I have somehow managed to fulfil his dream. He made each of us learn a different language. I learnt Hindi and Sanskrit at school while my elder sister Radha learnt French. My elder brother Muthukrishnan learnt German. He knew to speak, read and write in eight languages - Dutch, English, German, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil. Father ensured that I went to a good school and therefore he sent me to GRG in Peelamedu. It had been a much sought after CBSE School then. Our relatives used to wonder why he sent me to a school in which mill owner kids studied. However father ensured that my education was taken care of. If not for him, I would not have had the oppourtunity to draw my inspiration from the scholarly T.A.Bhaskar Iyer, our teacher who taught us Hindi and Sanskrit," added Dr.A.Bharani.
The goldsmith Alagriswamy aka known as Thambayya Asari worked on gold for making a living and more importantly this comrade who believed in God had a heart of gold.