Tracing the Entrepreneurial journey of my Paternal Grandfather
My
father has always been proud of his lineage. He was son of Kalaivani Press
Ramasamy Iyengar. The prefix 'Kalavani Press' had become his identity. All through my life, I had known only that; plus probably
another fact that my grandpa was a President of India Awardee for excellence in
Printing. A specific incident happened recently, when I had to introduce my
lineage, (one can probably relate it to the practice of saying ‘Abhivadaye’
where a Brahmin Hindu man introduces himself to others especially the elders
stating details of his lineage). I
realized that all that I could say was ‘I am Kalaivani Press Ramasamy Iyengar’s
Granddaughter’, but no one ever knew about ‘Ramasamy Iyengar’.
That
incident lead me to discover more about a man that I have always known only as ‘thatha’
without a prefix (also because my maternal grandpa was always ‘Cheeni thatha’).
Even thatha's face is not all that familiar now, as he had passed away when I was
about 11 years old.
My memories of ‘Kalaivani Press Ramasamy Iyengar’ (aka ‘thatha’ or ‘Grandpa’ in this article) are only of a tall, fair, handsome, frail man (suffering from elephantiasis) but radiantly smiling and observant, with a broad forehead adorned with Srichurnam (an identification mark of Sri Vaishnatives). He was a very clean man and a perfectionist (as my father and aunts relay to me). He was mostly seated in the front porch of the paternal house in Srirangam with his infected leg raised on a wire netted stool. My memories of him are limited as I was too young, probably messing around him with my other cousins. But I have no memories of him disciplining me ever. In my childhood, I was never exposed to his entrepreneurial skills or his other credentials. I can’t say that about my cousins too. But we collectively agree that our exposure to ‘thatha’ was limited. That continued till my cousins and self, have reached our middle age.
As a
householder, thatha raised 3 sons and 3 daughters. But he was also concerned
about his nephews and nieces. As far as
home front was concerned, he was the provider for the household and Grandma was
the administrator. Their equation was so (they never overlapped the other). I
have good memories of my Grandma ('Raji Paati') though, as she lived with us for a longer time
frame. But ‘thatha’ remained a mystery until now.
Disclaimer: Most of the information about him are from the memories of my father and his siblings (all of whom are either Septuagenarians or Sexagenarians). So dates and timelines might be a bit mixed up here and there. But I am trying to keep up the data as accurate as possible to be at least approximately close to the related information available in the internet. My older cousins do have some more stories to add which I have included here. Any references to any famous personality are not 100% verified as these episodes happened over 50 years ago. Therefore I have no intention to claim any publicity by establishing any connection but just wish to document my grandfather's achievements for my cousins and our children and generations thereafter, to know about "Kalavani Press - Ramasamy Iyengar".
So here goes ….
Born in 1912 as the eldest son of Srinivasan Iyengar (an Ameena or a subordinate officer employed by civil courts for various purposes such as to sell or deliver up possession of immovable property, to collect arrears of revenue etc., in the British legal system) and Vanjulavalli ammal, Ramasamy iyengar was raised in the island of Srirangam (bound by the two rivers Cauvery and Kollidam - a tributary of Cauvery). He had 3 younger siblings (1 brother and 2 sisters) towards whom he had unbounded attachment (my father would say “An attachment that was more than what he had for his own children”). He studied there in an era when the sectarian disputes amongst the Iyengar community were more prominent.
I am not sure if the sectarian disputes
had made any impact on him and why he chose to move out. But my memories of him
do convince me of his personal religious inclination (considering the fact that
I had never seen him without his Srichurnam). Surprisingly, he was never an
imposing man. I felt that his religious inclination was not much percolated to
his children directly by him (except may be to his eldest son). My aunt recollects how he gave up his shika (a) kudumi when at Srirangam and how he used to take different routes to avoid his parents or relatives from noticing that. He must have had his reasons. But that was just one thing he gave up. Not his faith or his cultural beliefs.
He then left to Madras presidency where he completed LPT – ‘Licentiate in Printing Technology’, a then 3 year course conducted by the British Indian Government. My aunt recollects his days in Chennai as narrated by her father to her (akin to the days depicted in the Tamil Movie 'Madarassapattinam') where transport from one place to another was tough and income was meagre. He used to travel from Triplicane to Taramani mostly by foot or by a 22 inch cycle and used to rely more on Udupi house sambar to fill up him nutrient requirement for the day than indulge in sumptuous meals to save up. Nevertheless he picked up his skills from that institute.
The LPT course was modified much later in 1965 by the All-India Federation of Master Printers which was incepted in 1953. (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000147153).
According to my father, Grandpa was actively involved in the inception of the
All India Federation of Master Printers. But I have no referential material to
provide.
On completion, he got a job in the Currency Note Press in Nashik. Grandpa was an ‘Inset’ printing expert. My father recollects it as ‘Check Digit’. The terminology ‘Inset’ was new to him also, I had to double check with him before he agreed that ‘Inset’ was exactly what Grandpa an expert was in. Interestingly, ‘Inset’ is the technology of using alphanumeric in generating unique numbers in currency notes. There was lot of experimenting 1940 onwards to implement this technology and Grandpa was amongst the first batch of technicians involved in developing and testing the technique. Ultimately this was implemented in 1945. It is stated that the Inset first appeared in 1945 on a One Rupee Banknote of Government of India with the portrait of King George VI signed by C. E. Jones, Secretary, and Finance Department. (http://indianbanknote.blogspot.com/2012/02/inset-as-alphabet-on-indian-banknotes.html)
The climatic conditions of Nashik were not really conducive to him. He was looking out for options to come back to south. That’s when he got a posting in Burma (Part of Undivided India then). He married Rajalakshmi, a distant relative (in 1938 /39 as the timeline is not very accurate, I am going by tentative timelines considering the year of birth of my father’s older brother) and sought to settle down in Rangoon. His In-laws were also based out of Rangoon. The bombing of Rangoon by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (that took place between 1941 - 1942) saw the retreat of the entire clan from Rangoon to India. Apparently, a part of the family travelled by ship while another part was stated to have walked down all the way from Rangoon to Srirangam. Thatha was amongst the trekkers who walked back to Srirangam all the way from Rangoon. This was just the beginning for him and he picked up his unsurmountable endurance and persistence from this experience.
On
his return back, through his earlier connections with the Printing institute of
Madras presidency, he got acquainted with Sri. G.D. Naidu of Coimbatore. He took up
the job of a lecturer in PSG Tech for Printing Technology. But that phase was
probably the last leg of his journey as an ‘employee’. His role as a lecturer
was short-lived, more because there were not many takers for the LPT course.
His last batch comprised of only 3 students and since it was not viable for the
Government to conduct exams only for 3 students, Grandpa had to use his
influence and transfer those 3 students to Madras. My father could recollect
that in later years, Grandpa’s students rose to the level of becoming top
General Managers in the Government Press that was established in Coimbatore.
Now, this press is managed as a unit of Directorate of Printing under the
Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs.
Launch
of Kalaivani Press…
He
was almost at his career low after quitting as a lecturer from PSG Tech, when
the ‘then Vice Principal’ of PSG Tech, (Late) Sri. Subburamaiyyer lent him some
money to start his own Press. That’s when he launched “Kalaivani Press”. He was partnered in this venture along with
(Late) Sri. Subburamaiyyer by (Late) Sri. Subramani Iyer and (Late) Lt. Col.
Ravi, who were his professional acquaintances over the years. He took up a prominent
space in Gandhipuram – a commercial neighbourhood in the heart of the city of
Coimbatore to establish his first press.
He
was actively involved with the Coimbatore Master Printers Association and was
also involved in Karnataka Master Printers Association. My father has memories
of accompanying grandpa to Bangalore to attend association meetings of All
India Federation of Master Printers. Apparently he was involved with the
Coimbatore Master Printers Association for over a decade with a brief stint as
its President too. Unfortunately, Coimbatore Master Printers Association still
exists, but without an internet presence.
1960s,
the Golden era..
In
1962 he was given the “Caxton Award” by the
Association for his role in bringing excellence in the Printing Industry.
Despite veterans like Sri. G.D. Naidu and Mr. Swamikannu Vincent having their lion’s
share in printing industry in Coimbatore, he was the first entrepreneur to
bring in offset printing into Coimbatore. He was successful in crossing
the license barriers and in importing the offset printing machine from Japan.
He
was associated with Stanes group
(then, under the administration of the British family and probably during the
transition period when Stanes group was acquired by Amalgamations group) as a
vendor to print their labels and vouchers etc. Though we have no records of Thatha
being introduced or acquainted with any of the members of Amalgamation group,
my father and aunt were able to recollect memories of a Britisher by name ‘Rickkets’ who was part of Stanes Group and very
friendly with thatha. I have been fortunate to get access to a book “The Stanes
Story” (a souvenir made to commemorate the Centenary of ‘Stanes’ 1861 -1961 and
Golden jubilee of T.Stanes and Company Ltd., Coimbatore 1910-1960) in which, in the foreword was written by E.H.Stanes, I was able to see the name ‘E.M. Rickkets’
mentioned.
My father has memories of the memorabilia that Mr. Rickkets left for my grandfather – a hand operated washing machine and a bath tub (something that was not common in orthodox Brahmin households in those days) – when he left for London with his family, winding up from India permanently.
Ramasamy
Iyengar was also closely associated with Praga
industries and used to print their ‘Shade cards’ apart from catering to
their other printing needs. These Shade cards were important for the
manufacture and sale of sewing threads and matching buttons, then. His popularity amongst business community grew leaps and bounds. My father
and aunt recollect the attendance of significant business magnets of Coimbatore at the
wedding of his eldest daughter, which happened around this time. My aunt recollects that my grandfather admired (Late) Sri. G. D. Naidu's penchant for eating uncooked raw salads. The consumption of uncooked raw vegetables as a salad was uncommon in those days and according to her, thatha had picked up the habit of having raw vegetables at Sri. G.D. Naidu's house.
It
was also around the same time line that Ramasamy Iyengar developed a unique
printing ink. Though Carbon copies were prominent since 1954s, he had a
different thinking process. In 1964, he went to meet Sri. J.R.D. Tata to demonstrate
the usage of the ink to print airline tickets (the process was called ‘back
carbonizing’) and to seek business. Though Air India was formed by Sri. J.R.D.
Tata, the Government of India had taken a significant stake in 1953. But Sri. J.R.D.
Tata continued to be its Chairman until 1977. That is why Ramasamy Iyengar
sought an appointment with him and went to meet him. (Late) Sri. J.R.D. Tata, a noble
person that he was, recognized the potential and also bearing in mind that
domestic airline services were transferred to Indian Airlines, chartered an
exclusive flight from Bombay to Delhi for Ramasamy Iyengar. That was a major breakthrough!
Pre-numbered
printing of airline tickets (catering to the needs of Air India and Indian
Airlines pan-India) were executed in Coimbatore. The leaflets had a special
ink, that wouldn’t stain the hand. But if written upon, they could reproduce
the data in the perforated papers that were attached beneath the first sheet. My
father recalls that the terms of the contract was to supply a minimum of 2000
ticket booklets per day and have them delivered at Himalaya Bhavan in Delhi
from Coimbatore. Ramasamy Iyengar was also instrumental in bagging the order to
print the Air Consignment note (used for Cargo Booking) for Air India and
Indian Airlines from Coimbatore. He was the monopoly supplier for Airline
tickets for more than 20 years. The amount of controls he had in place to ensure confidentiality and quality control were absolutely amazing as per narratives shared by few of my older cousins and my uncle. 'His office was simple, but elegant, lit by his personality' - they say.
His connections with the Tatas brought them to Coimbatore and they (i.e. Tatas) were contemplating to start a factory in Coimbatore. In fact it is said that there was some land in Sivanandha Colony that was owned by Tata Oil Company and later became a residential area called Tatabad. Other entrepreneurs ( later) had some liaison with Tatas and that's how that part of the story of Tatabad branched out. I was not able to trace anything more about my grandfather's role in bringing about Tatabad though.(https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/memories-of-coimbatore-pedalling-down-the-ages/article2892682.ece)
He was also the pioneer in using spiral binding technique for Praga Industries and was in charge of printing Cheque books for Lakshmi Vilas Bank during the same time frame. Mr. Nejedly of Praga Industries was a perfectionist who would never compromise on his quality expectation. That was also a contributing factor in Kalaivani press going in for a fabricated Spiral binder that was co-designed in-house, to print a table calendar for Praga Industries in 1960s.
His Rise to Fame…
In
1964 he printed a multicolor calendar (comprising of assorted flowers) which
was then one of its kind. For this, he was unanimously awarded by the President of India Shri. Zakir Hussain
for ‘Excellence in printing’. It was the same time that (Late) Smt. Indira
Gandhi was inducted in the Central ministry as Cabinet minister for Information
and Broadcasting under the leadership of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
He
also used his passion to travel and his skills in black and white photography
to capture some of the exotic locations and national monuments of India and
came out with a diary. It was a diary that one could use to record daily
appointments but the beauty was in the layout that he designed. The inner pages of the diary had special inserts of photographs taken by him with some information about those places, making the diary both useful and informative. This made diaries an apt new year gift. I also noticed that the trend of giving diaries as New year gifts started as a tradition in 1970s and existed until late 2000s.
He
took his interest one step ahead to approach HR&CE department and obtain
permission to photograph, all famous temples in Tamil Nadu. This particular
venture was financed by (Late) Sri. Pollachi N. Mahalingam, who was also personally
interested in this project. The diary ultimately was a multi-color print, capturing
all prominent temples of south India comprising of the temple’s Rajagopuram,
chief deity and a small brief about the temple in his own impeccable language.
Even in 1970s his calendars were priced Rs. 100 a book!
He
would make expeditions even on his scooter (a 1958 model Lambretta) to places
like Tirupati/Kanchipuram (what a surprise.. he did ‘this guy on his own’ solo
trips in 1960s!!), which he gave up much later, probably after he got his car ‘MSX
900’ (a fiat that was imported from England and was subsequently sold to (Late)
Dr. Pranesh - a famous neurologist in Coimbatore).
My aunt could recollect that he had a Standard 10 car 'MSV 7711' which for some reason was not very comfortable for him. He sold it and got a Fiat 'MSX 900'. She could recollect the 'surprise trips' that he organized for his family in that fiat car to temples, his loyal driver Ramdas who accompanied them and some journeys amongst heavy rain showers where the whole family travelling would loudly chant 'Hare Krishna Maha Mantra' to ward of the fear while travelling in the dark. The MSX 900 travel episodes seem etched in the minds of my father and aunt even after 50 years.
He
was also the pioneer in introducing tabletop calendars in Coimbatore.
Kalaivani
press was also the only go-to printing press for the Brahmin community in
Coimbatore for all their ceremonial printing needs. As per a narration by one
Maami whom I had visited in 2017, her wedding card was printed at Kalaivani
Press in 1967. She could vividly recollect that how Ramasamy Iyengar was a
perfectionist and he would collect just the basic details, fit them in his
template and give a quick delivery with just one round of proof reading sent to
the customer.
Around
1972-73 he was invited to Johart, Assam (a place I heard of for the first time
in my life) by ‘CSIR- North East Institute of Science and Technology’
(established as Regional Research Laboratory ‘RRL’ in 1961 and renamed
subsequently) to collaborate and help in developing ‘Carbonless paper’. But it
proved to be commercially unviable and the project did not take off.
He
was also a consultant for Kores India to streamline the quality issues that
cropped up in the manufacturing of Carbon papers.
He
was the monopoly supplier of Tacograph charts to Yenkay Instruments & Controls for their speedometers.
Apparently, a Tacograph chart was an analog chart that was fitted in road
vehicles to record vehicle journey details for each driver. His charts were
used till early 1980s by Yenkay Instruments & Controls.
By this time, his 3 daughters were married into respectful families and he also had his sons exposed to the nuances of business as part of his succession planning.
He was also acquainted with 'The Hindu' where the newspaper's wall posters were printed in Kalaivani press. The content would arrive at midnight based on the news ready for circulation the next morning and within 2 hours the content had to be composed, proof read, printed and delivered for distribution and pasting. I then came to know that 'Dead man hour shift' (a) 'night shift' isn't a new concept akin to IT industry alone. It existed for a long time before including Printing industry.
My father also recollected some hilarious episodes of mis-printing where "Sooriya Kumar, IAS" was accidentally mis-printed as "Soriya Kumar, IAS" and over 1000 copies had to be corrected overnight before circulation. My daughter was splitting with laughter when she heard this as the lack of a single alphabet 'o' changed the meaning of the name from 'Son of the Sun' to 'Son of a Itch' 😃. Likewise printing of "Vedha Narayanan" as "Vadha Narayanan" actually made that man think it was a prank that the printers were playing. Proof correction in printing hardcopies could be humorous and equally stressful, especially in the non-digital typesetting era.
My uncle could recollect that there was a photolike 'painting' of Tirupati Balaji organized through a very capable painter by my grandfather and apparently he also had some copyright for it. I remember a huge photograph hanging in the wall of my home long time back. But with efflux of time, the frame and image withered. My aunt who had a copy shared this photo with me. It might seem a normal photo now. But in 1960s it was the first hand painted copy of Tirupati Balaji.
 |
| This image has the Sanskrit wordings "Sarvaloka Nivaasaaya... Srinivasaya Mangalam" |
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| This image has clear Copy right water mark in the bottom right corner. |
My aunt gave me copies of invitations bearing photos of Balaji and Guruvayoorappan which were first of their kinds in 1970s and later became a trend and matured with color offset printing.
His
venture rose further in 1970s and he had spread his wings to Madras and
Sivakasi. He established a branch of Kalaivani press in West Cott road,
Royapettah, Chennai (currently this building is part of Woodlands theatre). The
building was given to him at Zero-rent by Theosophical society in appreciation
of his effort in giving employment to more than 100 women in a single campus.
He also established Industrial Park in Coimbatore for manufacture of Cardboard
boxes, Srividya Printing Press in Pudukottai for printing Air tickets.
Graceful
Bow out..
In
the 1956, the partnership firm had been converted into a Private Limited
company. In late 1970s, new shareholders, new management stepped in. Labour
unions (Right wing & Left wing) were too strong (with some political
backing as well). Though Grandpa is still remembered by his workers as a 'Pro-workers' and Pro-Customer’s man', there was a big fallout with the new
management, who felt he was too soft with workers. It was also the time that
the company had a major blow in form of a flood that destroyed stocks (valued
in lakhs) in their godown. Taking insurance to cover Flood and Inundation risk
was not a practice then. The performance of the company dipped. The new members
of the board who had joined the company felt that he was no longer capable of
using ‘the iron fist’.
Amidst
all these melee, thatha’s health started failing in 1977. He developed
hypertension and its subsequent complications gradually drained him out. He
accepted that, may be his principles of management and administration were no
longer relevant (which I personally feel is unjustified, now) and it was high time that he
stepped down.
Yet,
his pursuit for low cost alternatives to keep revolutionizing printing industry
did not cease. He sent his second son (my father) to London to learn about
re-built dual color printing machines (they are now called refurbished
machines) 'Solna 225', which were available at half price (a INR 14 Lakh worth machine was
available for INR 6 Lakh after refurbishing) with no compromise on output
quality.
He moved out of Coimbatore in 1983 to go back to his roots in Srirangam. He was also infected by Filariasis disease (a disease caused by mosquito bite) that was an endemic affecting southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Thereafter he gradually withdrew from active business life and remained there until his demise in 1992. Even now, my father, his siblings, their spouses recollect the tireless stamina with which he used to travel between Trichy and Coimbatore on his Lambretta, his peculiar sense of taste for the choicest dishes even at uncommon places, his eye for detail and also his subtle sense of humour.
He was a big time foodie and his one-liners to constructively criticize any fault in food were rib tickling. He once asked a waiter if he was serving cold food just because the name of the hotel was "Ariyabhavan" ('Ariya' the local tamil equivalent means 'getting cold').
As I close my eyes now, I am able to recollect the mischievous twinkle in his eye whenever he saw me around him and the pride in his face as he saw me and other cousins played hide and seek around his easy-chair. We all miss him now.
Reminiscing
my thatha’s life journey…
All through his life, as I hear more episodes of his life, I notice that, to the extent he was focused on excelling in his craft, expanding his business and balancing his responsibilities as an employer cum family man, he was never focused on amassing personal wealth. He never invested his earnings on any tangible property in Coimbatore. I am not sure of what exactly was in his mind then and what made him to decide not to invest in this soil. Apparently he has had some bad experiences once or twice which made him completely refrain from investing in real estate in Coimbatore.
But as a man of few words, he was said to have kept things to
himself without divulging much to his family. His family would know of his
travels only with the insurance slip that would end up at their door step. Therefore
it is not a surprise that his children and grandchildren know very less about
him. His friends who are also no longer alive now – Sri. G.D. Naidu, Sri. Pasupathy Muthaliyar, Mr. Rickkets, Mr. Nejedly…would
probably know him much better than any of his descendants had his friends been alive
or had they documented any of their experiences with thatha. His man-friday (Late) Marraiyyan would have more memories of his professional journey than any of his children. I may never know.
As I end my article about thatha, I also realize that 2020 marks 108th year of birth of that icon. Well the man left. As per MCA records, the company exists. As a family. we have no connections with the company that was his legacy. Yet, a part of his creation – “Kalaivani Press factory building” still remains.
Unfortunately, all that we descendants are left with are - just a handful of photographs and memories of him through our parents.
A Note of Thanks
I would like to thank M/s. G.D. Museum to have graciously accepted my appeal to help me with any material that would give any insight of my grandfather's connection with Late Sri. G. D. Naidu.
I would also like to thank Mr. Karmegam of Agaram printers, Salem to have agreed to help me with any material that he may get in future about my grandfather through All India Master Printers federation. I am thankful to him for having recognised my grandfather as a chief guest in one of the convocations hosted by HMT in 1970s and having shared his experiences with me.
I am also thankful to M/s. T.Stanes and Company Ltd., for helping me get a proof of existence of Mr. Riccketts.
Most of all I am thankful to Appa and his siblings for sharing their memories with me and for helping me discover...my Grandfather.
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