C. Nanjundan and family lived on West Ponnurangam Road, R. S. Puram, Coimbatore. His shop cum office, C. Nanjundan& Co. was located on Raja Street – Opposite to Thiyagi Kumaran Market. Nanjundan was popularly known as BoochiIyer and was extremely popular in the social circles of the city.
C. Nanjundan and family lived on West Ponnurangam Road, R. S. Puram, Coimbatore. His shop cum office, C. Nanjundan & Co. was located on Raja Street – Opposite to Thiyagi Kumaran Market. Nanjundan was popularly known as Boochi Iyer and was extremely popular in the social circles of the city.
Boochi was an agent for Textool, a couple of insurance companies and most importantly, Binny Ltd. In fact, there used to be a que of people who would wait outside C. Nanjundan & Co.in order to purchase Binny long cloth. Boochi had been born to Chowdappa & Meenakshi. The family hailed from Karnataka and had moved into this region during the times of Tipu Sultan. Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan used Palladam while crossing over to the Malabar Coast. The Cochin frontier road stands as a testimony to these incidents. Diwan Purniah of Mysore was the trusted lieutenant of Tipu Sultan. The Diwan was born in Coimbatore.
Tipu Sultan granted several thousand acres of land to his Diwan during one of the trips. Purniah gave much of it to his near and dear. This included the Smartha Brahmins belonging to the Kannada speaking Babboor Camme sect. They were attached to the Sringeri Mutt. The ‘Sulur House’ family belonged to this group. The ancestors of Boochi Iyer belonged to this sect. Over time, the lands were given away to the tenants and many of them moved into Coimbatore while some went back to Karnataka.
Boochi Iyer was member of Cosmopolitan Club and Textool Balasundaram, G.Krishnan, G.N.Sam, K.Venkatesalu, L.G.Balakrishnan were among his close friends. He was quite close to the Minister T. M.A. Pai and was therefore able to help many people get mill licenses. Boochi's bungalow was a meeting place for many amongst the elite. The house had a special dining facility and the kitchen used to be busy through the day. Boochi had a special room for storing coffee seeds. Blending was done in-house and the supplies were from A.N.Nayak. Boochi was also known for his cocktail meetings. Meenakshi and Boochi Iyer was blessed with Chowdappan (Puttan), Ramamoorthi and Ganesh. Boochi Iyer used to be immaculately dressed and used to adhere to the advise of his family astrologer, Rama Iyer on a day-to-day basis. The flamboyant Boochi used to cycle to Cosmopolitan Club and play tennis. The tennis racquet would be held by the cycle carrier.
Puttan (Chowdappan), the first son used to be found in 'Golden Nook' a popular hang out. He was as popular as his father. Ganesh was the assistant to P. A. R.Viswanathan Chettiar. Boochi Iyer earned well and was a helpful person. He gave away a lot of money to good causes. Several relatives were helped by him. Every top personality was known to him. Therefore, the marriages in his house were grand and well attended.
Sulur Subba Rao was quite close to one of the brothers-in-law of Boochi Iyer. His sisters were Seethalakshmi, Subbulakshmi, Sharadhambal and Nagalakshmi. It was Seethalakshmi's husband who happened to be close to Binny Subburao of the 'Sulur House' family.
Most of Boochi's relatives lived in R.S.Puram. The area was developed by Diwan Bahadur C.S. Rathina Sabapathi Mudaliar as a reply to the scourge-plague. Several farming families and townspeople purchased plots and moved into R.S.Puram during the second quarter of the twentieth century. The Sringeri Mahasannidhanam His Holiness Abhinava Vidya Tirtha Mahaswamigal had visited many of these homes. Lord Nanjundeswara of Nanjangud was the family deity to Boochi Iyer.
Dr.S.S.Narasimhan L.M.P was the second brother-in-law of Boochi Iyer. He was known as Kaniyur Doctor and was known for his lucky cum healing touch. His wife Subbulakshmi was fair complexioned, and one used to spot a large Kum kuma Pottu (Mark) on her forehead. The Narasimhans were quite orthodox and their home was a sacred place. One could always hear the "Screech" sound made by their swing. The ticking of the Seikosha wall clock could be heard in the home which was well-known for its innumerable Poojas. People used to call this home 'Hale Mane' (Old house).
Dr.S.R.Srikantan was married to the youngest sister, Nagalakshmi and he used to live on Big Bazaar street. He later moved over to West Venkataswamy road in R.S.Puram. Dr.S.R.Srikantan was on very good terms with Boochi Iyer. He got introduced to a number of people due to the same. Over time the name of Dr.S.R.Srikantan became very popular. He was a very good doctor. Dr.S.S.Narasimhan M.R.C.P was the first son of Dr.S.R.Srikantan and he was known for his healing touch. Narasimhan doctor was an amazing physician.
Well, the flamboyant Boochi Iyer wore a close collared suit. He was dressed immaculately. His nephew Balasubramaniam alias Rajamani (son of Sharadhambal) was with him all the time. The hard working Rajamani and Boochi Iyer used to ensure that Textool Textile Machinery would outsell international brands like T & S, Platts etc. Rajamani was extremely effective and his result oriented approach yielded good dividends.
L.G.Balakrishnan and G.Krishnan had been extremely helpful to Boochi Iyer. They stood by him through and through. The residence of Boochi was known as 'Lalitha Nivas' and it had been a popular destination in town. It was thanks to the Kaniyur Dr.S.S.Narasimhan that the family became well known to the Vettaikarapudur region. The landlord V.A.Muthumanickkam of this place was known to this good doctor. The helpful Boochi Iyer had helped many amongst his relatives to conduct marriages and people continued to remember those days.
"The information pertaining to my granduncle, Boochi Iyer, was shared by mother Jayalakshmi to all of us. She had preserved the old photos and information", stated S.B.Ravichandar. The entrepreneur who lives in Coimbatore.