The contribution of Cho S. Ramaswamy to society was recalled at a meeting called to celebrate the life and times of the late well-known political commentator, journalist, actor and satirist, who died last month.
S. Gurumurthy, who took over as Editor of Thuglak , founded by Cho, said the latter had a “dimensionless brain”, one that was limitless. It was Cho who exhorted him to write in Tamil, he pointed out.
Recalling how he was a shareholder in the magazine in 1988, Mr. Gurumurthy said, “I came out in 1991 as I was not contributing much.”
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Later, in 2002, however, Cho made him a partner again.
“I am definitely not as qualified as Cho. He started saying that I should start taking up more responsibility [in the magazine]. But I told him he was like a drug to his readers and his humour and knowledge could not be matched,” Mr. Gurumurthy said.
The responsibility of being the Editor of
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Tamil Nadu was poorer with Cho's demise. “Tamil Nadu should come out of the ‘disgraceful condition’ it is facing now. That would be Cho’s wish,” Mr. Gurumurthy said without elaborating.
Mr. N. Ram, Chairman, Kasturi & Sons Ltd, said though their views were often divergent, Cho was a formidable figure. “He was thinking of politics all the time. Sometimes, he would modify his political preferences but he kept his core intact,”he pointed out.
Cho also stood quite steadfast in any discussions on freedom of expression and intolerance by those in power. “He was definitely the first person of any public influence to take a stand on armed militants in Tamil Nadu. At one point, it was an unpopular position to take, but he stood by it. While he sympathised with the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils, he did not support that kind of armed conflict.” he said.
Mr. Ram also recalled Cho’s contribution to the launch of The Hindu Tamil edition.
Cho’s friends, R. Neelakantan, Shankar and S.R. Raman, recalled their association with him.
The event was organised by the Mylapore Club in Chennai.