Ever since adiyen took up the role of The Editor for the English Spiritual magazine Vainavan Kural, there was a desire to interview some of the Srivaishnavites who are rendering or have rendered service in the fields of Temple Kainkarya, Sampradaya, Academics etc. Today (11-03-19) I had the opportunity to visit Vidvan Sri.T.E.S.Raghavan, 89 years old, living at No.1, Hanumanta rayar koil Street, Triplicane, Chennai -5. His brother Sri.Narasihman and his daughter-in-law were present during the interview and they were kind enough to share some anecdotes and information about the author.
It was a very interesting experience to have met this nonagenarian (well almost) and I was amazed at his scholarship and energy.
The feeling about the absence of recognition and money in the careers of those who pursue literary aspirations was very much evident in the voice of the elderly Srivaishnavite. Art forms are hardly recognised and appreciated, and literary art is the least appreciated and recognised form of all arts. As a writer myself, I can empathise with the elderly author.
Sri.Narasimhan, the author’s brother shared some interesting information about their ancestors and spoke very encouragingly about his elder brother. The audios of the interview, sharing of anecdotes are all shared below. The author needs to be recognised for his contribution to the Hindi Sahitya especially for his translation of the entire Thirukkural in to Hindi.
He has written a doha each for all the 1330 Thirukkurals besides rendering their meanings in Hindi. H.E.Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, ex-President of India has appreciated the author’s effort with his kind hand written words.
Sri Raghavan, who has translated some of the stotras of Sri Vedanta Desika in to Hindi (these have been published in the past by TTD in their journals), has also attempted to write some dohas on the Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavatam but due to his age, he has left them incomplete. Those who are interested to buy his book on Thirukkural can do so by contacting his daugter-in-law at 044-28442126.
recording of Interview with the author is as below
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f0MszMZGaUh7FCOPV8BbIv641QbW-yQb
The author happily rendered a subhashita before the author left and its recording is
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PalMeH4nuJFSlgO4vhmIGQN5ZS4762Sp
recording of Sri Narasimhan talking about his brother
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1huvdLRu-0CI7G66FmvFF5x7LA6FUPT7I
recording of Sri Narasimhan talking about his grandfather
https://drive.google.com/open?id=18Kz1Q0RleIbGzbp_e_xB-17M-9K1AC3Y
The excerpts from this interview will be published in the March edition of Vainavan kural – English version.
Dasan,
Sreeram.
