Pa.Kuppuswamy remembers an incident with the then chief minister K.Kamaraj when the latter came for a school inauguration at Coimbatore. Some villagers appealed to him saying they needed to deepen their village well. When Kamaraj told the Collector to take up the matter, he was informed that as the yearly budget had been exhausted the work could be taken up only later.
Kamaraj is said to have told the Collector that it was the duty of bureaucrats to always provide solutions and never delay public work. He asked the collector to proceed with the task immediately and sanctioned the funds for the same.
“Kamaraj was a go-getter who had the interest of the people in mind and that is why he is so revered to this day,” says Kuppuswamy (extreme right in pic).
Kuppuswamy recalls a meeting with Kavignar Kannadasan in the 60s. “He was at the residence of Mohan Kandaswamy in Tirupur and I was invited too. As Kannadasan relaxed after a meal, his assistant requested him to compose a sweet song for the movie Veera Abhimanyu . Immediately, the great poet broke into the following beautiful verse: Paarthen sirithen pakkathil azhaithen, anru unaithen ena naan ninaithen, andha malaithen idhuvena malaithen.. . Every line ended with the word then meaning honey in Tamil. It was truly amazing and the very same lines were used without any change on screen with AVM. Rajan and Kanchana playing the role of Abhimanyu and Uttara.”
In the 70s, Morarji Desai visited Coimbatore. Kuppuswamy, who went through the prime minister’s dietary requirements, says he was surprised and amused by it.
“According to the communication he was to be served 250 ml of milk for breakfast, a glass of cane or fruit juice by 10 a.m., 250 ml of milk and six cloves of garlic by 12.30 for lunch and another 250 ml of milk by 6 p.m. for dinner. On re-confirmation we learnt that he would have only this and nothing else. Finally, the 82-year-old Prime Minister arrived and we were astonished to witness his schedule. He got up 4.30 a.m., spun the charka until 5.30 a.m., bathed, recited verses from the Isavasya Upanishad and was ready by 6.30 a.m. He was quite healthy for his age and extremely agile and alert. When I asked him about his frugal diet, he said having reached his 80s he was in his second childhood and it was best to follow a child’s diet !”
Pa.Ramachandran was another man to emulate, says Kuppuswamy.
“He was known to me and I received him whenever he visited Coimbatore. He was a simple man. In spite of serving as MLA, MP, Minister and Governor, he lived in a house in the Co operative housing colony. He was sincere and frank at all times. My interactions with him were enriching and I learnt much from him".
Pa.Kuppuswamy fondly recalls an instance when he was present in a meeting with the Railway Minister A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhry.
It was held in the minister’s special compartment. It was abut launching a day train to Coimbatore. “The Railway Board Members expressed their inability to supply coaches for the day train as promised in the Parliament. But the Minister was keen to live up to the promise made. After a long discussion it was finally suggested that the coaches from other trains would be used to start this service and the Railway Board Members agreed. The minister was extremely happy as this meant the new day train would become a reality as promised.”
