• Welcome to Tamil Brahmins forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our Free Brahmin Community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

Cho Ramaswamy is no more

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sad to know the passing away of dynamic Cho Ramaswamy! He was a forthright in his opinion! A dynamic lawyer, playwright, journalist and actor rolled into one! Successfully running his Thuglaq magazine for past 45 years!

[h=1]Cho Ramaswamy passes away[/h] B Kolappan

CHENNAI: December 07, 2016 06:56 IST


cho%20r.jpg



Cho Ramaswamy, political commentator, theatre personality and editor of Thuglak, a Tamil magazine known for its withering satire and fearless criticism of political figures, died here early on Wednesday.
He was 82 and is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
He has been ailing for some time, and was hospitalised for respiratory problems on a couple of occasions in recent times.
PbQWFgHSiHYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=









Last week, he was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals here for breathing problems and poor intake of food.
Born into a family of lawyers — his grandfather Arunachala Iyer, his father Srinivasa Iyer and uncle Matrhubootham were well-known lawyers — Cho also took up the legal profession with some success. For some time, he was also a legal advisor to the TTK group, before plunging fully into theatre. Later, he ventured into films and finally made his mark as a journalist by launching his own magazine.
Even before he entered journalism, his work in the popular theatre was laced with political and social criticism. If the attempts of the Congress government led by M. Bhaktavatsalam in the late 1960s to censor the script of his play Sambavami Yuge Yuge drew popular attention, his political satire Mohamed Bin Thuglak was a runaway success. It struck a chord with the people, as through the story of a whimsical king, it pilloried the vice of floor-crossing that was playing havoc with parliamentary democracy in many States then.
Winner of the B.D. Goenka award for excellence in journalism, he was nominated to Rajya Sabha by the BJP government led by A.B. Vajpayee.
Cho was a close friend of many political leaders, former Chief Minister and late Congress president Kamaraj being one of them in his early days. He even worked as a go-between Kamaraj and Indira Gandhi for a possible merger of the Congress some time after its split.
Among others he was close to were Jayaprakash Narayan, L.K. Advani, RSS leader Balasaheb Deoras, Chandra Shekhar, G.K. Moopanar, and among contemporaries, late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose introduction to the people of Tamil Nadu was on the occasion of Thuglak’s anniversary celebrations.
Besides his plays, some of which were made into successful films, his other writings covered a wide variety of subjects. Well-versed in the Indian epics, Vedas and Puranas, he wrote copiously on religion and culture.
Mohamed Bin Thuglak was made into a film despite the then DMK government’s desperate efforts to stop its production. Party cadres sought to disrupt the screening too – in some places the screen was torn by vandals.
By the time he launched Thuglak on January 14, 1970, he had already established a name in theatre through his non-conformist approach and sardonic humour.
The articles and cartoons in it were a bold challenge to vested interests. Often writing from a common man’s perspective, he seemed to lend his voice to the voiceless, gutless, and generally insulated middle class that tended to commiserate with one other in silence but rarely spoke out in public.
Cho had a simplistic view of his success in all the fields he forayed into. He described the launch of Thuglak and its role as a gadfly in Tamil Nadu political discourse as just an extension of the satire and comedy that were integral to his plays. “I have been lucky,” he used to say. It was no surprise when he titled his memoir Athirshtam Thantha Anubavangal (‘Experiences Given by Fortune’).


http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/Cho-Ramaswamy-passes-away/article16771236.ece
 
Last edited:
Despite having influence with all political leaders, he has not sought any favour.

He was instrumental in bringing together MK and G K Moopanar in 1996 to form an alliance. But, he was not successful in bringing Rajnikanth to Politics.

He was very versatile and successful also in the fields he had chosen.

RIP.
 
hi

my mom knows his family members and visited his house many times....i like his drama very much.....R I P....
 
There were 2 people who attracted my attention during my early years at Chennai ! One was Cho & other being Madam JJ! Now both are no more! Feel saddened by their demise!!
 
[FONT=&quot]துக்ளக் அல்ல சாணக்கியன்![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](இன்றைய தினமணி தலையங்கம்-ஒரு பாரா)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot].[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]அப்பல்லோ மருத்துவமனையில் "சோ' ராமசாமி அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தபோது, அப்போது முதல்வராக இருந்த ஜெயலலிதா அவரை நலம் விசாரிக்க வந்தார்.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"சோ, நான் உயிரோடு இருக்கும்வரை உங்களுக்கு எதுவும் ஆகிவிடக்கூடாது. நீங்கள் போய்விட்டால் எனக்கு ஆதரவாகவும், பக்கபலமாகவும் வேறு யாரும் இல்லாமல் போய்விடும்' என்று அவரிடம் ஜெயலலிதா கூறினாராம்.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
அவர் விழைந்தது போலவே, ஜெயலலிதா மறைந்த அடுத்த நாள் "சோ' ராமசாமியும் காலமாகி இருக்கிறார்.[/FONT]
 
What a fabulous humanitarian gesture by Cho!

\\\ சோவும் – தியாகி நெல்லை ஜெபமணியும்… ///
தியாகி நெல்லை ஜெபமணி அவர்களின் வீடு சென்னை அபிராமபுரத்தில் உள்ளது. தியாகி ஜெபமணி அவர்கள் ஸ்தாபன காங்கிரஸ் பிரச்சாரகராக இருந்த காலத்தில் அந்த வீட்டிற்குச் செலுத்த வேண்டிய கடன் தொகை நிலுவைக்காக வீடு ஏலத்தில் போகும் நிலை உருவானது. உடனடியாக தொகையைச் செலுத்தாவிட்டால் வீடு ஏலம் விடப்படும் என்று அறிவிக்கப்பட்டு விட்டது.
இந்த அறிவிப்பு அவருக்குத் தெரியாது. கட்சிப் பரப்புரைக்காக அவர் ஊர் ஊராகப் பயணத்தில் இருந்தார். அப்படியே அவருக்குத் தெரிந்தாலும் தொகையைச் செலுத்தும் அளவுக்கு அவரிடமும் வசதியில்லை.
இந்தத் தகவல் பெருந்தலைவர் காமராஜ் அவர்களுக்குத் தெரிய வந்தது. அவர் உடனடியாக சோ அவர்களை அழைத்து, ‘‘ஜெபமணி வீடு ஏலம் போகப் போகிறது. அவன் கட்சி வேலையா ஊர் ஊரா சுத்திக்கிட்டிருக்கான். நீ ஒரு நாடகம் போட்டு அதுல வர்ற பணத்த வச்சு அந்த வீட்ட மீட்டுக் குடுன்னேன்’’ என்று கூறினார்.
சோ அவர்களும் ஒரு நாடகத்தை ஏற்பாடு செய்து நடத்தி அதில் வந்த தொகையைச் செலுத்தி அந்த வீட்டை மீட்டு அதன் சாவியை தியாகி நெல்லை ஜெபமணி அவர்களிடம் கொடுக்க வைத்தார்.
### சோ அவர்களுக்கு என் இதய அஞ்சலி

Source: Thuglak fan club-Facebook
 
\\\ சோவும் – தியாகி நெல்லை ஜெபமணியும்… ///

Among the few politicians whom Cho had highest respect , Nellai Jebamani was one such person and in fact Cho did campaign for him when he stood in one assembly segment .
 
S Ramesh was part of Cho's Thuglak team...Shows the true character of Cho

[h=1]Remembering Cho Ramaswamy: My editor and mentor[/h] [h=4]He treated the staff as his colleagues and always made me sit next to him in events we attended.[/h]
S Ramesh 08.12.2016

Cho Ramaswamy gave me my single biggest journalism lesson of not sharing personal information from a political leader’s life for a sensational story. That is also how he managed to maintain such close relations with so many politicians like Morarji Desai, MGR and Jayalalithaa.
They may not have always agreed with his strong, upright views, but they respected him. I remember being with him during a meeting with Karunanidhi whose political views he did not share. The meeting lasted for hours.
He was also firm about never letting reporters make personal attacks through an article. If it was an accusation, we had to wait for the other side of the story and give it due prominence. Above all, he was a fair man.
Around the time I met him, though not an active part of Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Artists Association), he was also always called upon to solve crises in the film industry.
chobd_120816031806.jpg
Cho Ramaswamy's views were ahead of their time.
During one such instance where Kamal Hassan’s 1998 film Kaathala Kaathala was facing film union trouble, he decided to act in the film just to prove a point and support Kamal. He had actually given up acting and turned down many offers before this happened.
There was always a lot of laughter in the Thuglak office when he was around. Editorial discussions were serious but short. He treated the staff as his colleagues and always made me sit next to him in events we attended. My fondest memories are of the entire staff of Thuglak having lunch together. This was a regular practice and lunch always came from his home.
He will always be in my thoughts for his honest journalism. Thuglak took no favours from anybody and would publish no government advertisements from the state or Centre.
His views were ahead of their time and it is a great loss for us and the entire nation.
On Jayalalithaa
He shared a long and deep friendship with Jayalalithaa. I was in the hospital with him when he heard about her cardiac arrest and her condition worsening.
Despite his own illness, he enquired about her all day. The last time I saw him he was in deep sleep and I don’t know if the news of her passing had reached him.
(As told to Prachi Sibal.)

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/cho-r...ine-journalists-tamil-nadu/story/1/14449.html
 
Who would be next editor for Thuglak...Many rumors going around..One name is getting stronger by the day! He is Auditor S. Gurumurthy! He is the best replacement I can think of!!
 
Admire T.M.Krishna's candid & brilliant article about Cho Ramaswamy!

Remembering Cho Ramaswamy, the Statesman-Satirist Who Knew No Fear

By T.M. Krishna on 10/12/2016

Never the prototype politician, Cho was an actor who thought and wrote on public affairs, built on his political relationships, and used his kalam and awaaz to create or even force change.


Cho Ramaswamy. Credit: Twitter

The political has almost always found its way into the theatrical stage. The story, subtext, context and its flow in form and presentation offer perspectives to the current while being rooted in that which is being told. Even mythological recreations suggest to us something about the time of its staging, the people who participate in its production and the socio-religious situation that necessitate these reiterations. Nevertheless, in the modern Tamil theatre and its off-shoot, Tamil cinema, satire as a direct political tool was hardly ever present. This is indeed unusual considering that Tamil cinema was a medium that was used as a transformational and propaganda mechanism for the Dravida movement. In a state where cinema has incubated so many party-affiliated political leaders, Cho Ramaswamy chose this untreaded path of a satirist. And in the process became a bold, unforgiving, opinionated, dissenting public voice. Behind every word that his characters uttered lay Cho’s own politics.
His plays and movies were filled with frontal attacks on the politics and politicians of his time with an underpinning of lampooning humour, and his uncanny ability to hit the kernel of any issue made him a larger than life political satirist. Whenever, through his dialogues, Cho tore a person apart, the audience knew who he was and it laughed its guts out – at the truth behind the sneer, the candour in the scorn but above all at what, in today’s parlance, may be called the surgical strike at hypocrisy.
While he was brutal on the politician’s Machiavellian intentions, he did not spare the people, gullible people, all of us, who fell for their ways. On numerous occasions he imitated the words and actions of the politicians, only to display the poverty of thought amongst those who voted them in. Cho did not stop with the stage, he used the written word through his magazine Tughlak and stood all through life at the lectern, turning the spotlight on numerous issues that affected the people of India, especially Tamils.
There were two issues on which Cho was uncompromising all through his life. He detested graft and corruption and believed in the freedom of the press. He was one of the few publishers and editors who used subversive ways of making anti-emergency statements when most of the Indian Press buckled and grovelled under Indira Gandhi’s diktat. A fearless man, who never backed down when threatened or bulldozed.
When the Dravida wave overwhelmed Tamil Nadu, Cho stood against the tide. He was vocal in his criticism of M. Karunanidhi and the DMK, and harassment never stopped him from standing by his beliefs. In essence, Cho’s was a middle-class Brahmin voice that rasped in laughter or laughed, rasping – a voice that was missing in those times. Cho was not a detached commentator, he was representing a constituency and more importantly his own socio-religious identity. This was his essential texture and a constant throughout his life. But the fascinating aspect of this personality was his ability to transcend that tagging and build relationships that went beyond this singular frame. Yet we cannot deny that while those who laughed at his humour were from across the social spectrum, his ideological backers came more or less came from his community and their affiliates.
Cho was not just an actor who dealt with politics, not just a commentator who did political writing ; he became a political actor. And very soon he became a de-facto backroom deal maker. One of his most successful achievements was bringing G.K. Moopanar (Tamil Manila Congress) and Karunanidhi together in the 1996 elections, and the icing on the cake was getting superstar Rajnikanth to publicly support the alliance. Later on, in 2011 he convinced DMDK president and actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth to partner with the AIADMK. If his plays and his writings were a hit, so were the deals he catalysed. Cho’s political acumen and ability to work out hit formations earned him respect across the board. Everyone knew that his calculations were most of the time on the button. If Cho was feared in certain quarters it was not because he had clout, but because he had something uniquely his: he had a sixth sense. It was this in him that all politicians feared. Cho’s Tughlak did not have the power to change the minds of the people of Tamil Nadu, but his personal brilliance could never be ignored. This made him immensely powerful, an influential inner-circle consultant.
In spite of the 1996 aberration and a few ups and downs in their relationship, Cho always maintained a close bond with J. Jayalalitha. They had acted together on stage and on the silver screen and this long time friendship and mutual respect remained largely intact. It is widely accepted that he was confidant and advisor to the late chief minister. Beyond the personal equation, ideologically they were a perfect fit. Jayalalitha was never really a representative of the Dravida identity; she was a right leaning politician who turned the AIADMK into Tamil Nadu’s BJP. Cho was cut from the very same cloth and hence saw her as the one force that could stop the DMK’s dominance and he was absolutely right.
To his credit, it has to be said that Cho never hid his Hindu, Brahmanical leanings. His writings, books and the famed television serial Enge Brahmanan were open in their celebration of an upper-caste view of the Hindu and the rest. And a large part of this overtness may have also come from a belief that the Brahmins have been much maligned and marginalised by the DMK. There is so much in his conservative religious and socio-political writings that I find disturbing and terribly flawed, even superficial, but that does not take away from its directness. Cho’s presence gave the Brahminical community a great deal of strength. Ever since the emergence of the Dravida movement that galvanised a large portion of the OBC community into electoral politics, the upper-castes have felt irrelevant. In Cho they had a mover and shaker. He further strengthened his Hindutva market by openly backing and celebrating Narendra Modi, both when he was chief minister of Gujarat and later as prime minister of India.
It is people like Cho who raise in our minds an essential question about the idea of the politician. Keeping aside his stint as a Rajya Sabha member, Cho was never the prototype politician. He was an actor who thought and wrote on public affairs, built on his political relationships, understood mechanisms of polity and actively acted upon them, using his kalam and awaaz to create or even force change. All of us may not have the reach to directly influence party politics but by viewing ourselves as political beings can for sure engage with greater depth and take public positions on matters of governance. In Tamil Nadu, Cho gave politics a live engaging form that was not tied down by party-isms or journalism.
Beyond his socio-religious and political leanings, Cho was a statesman-satirist who did not make anything personal and this endeared him to one and all. His harsh words were either accepted silently or were responded to in kind, but rarely did anyone cross the line of decency. With his passing, we have probably lost the last of those public figures who could separate the personal from the public and engage with everyone, including his ideological enemies.
His story is also a tragedy of sorts. He certainly had dreams of becoming a larger player in national politics. Though his friends came from power centres across the country, his relevance largely remained within the boundaries drawn out in 1956. In this story also lies the broad dark line that keeps the south far away from New Delhi. Voices that emerged from here post the 1960s have rarely mattered to the powers at the helm beyond seat calculations. And unfortunately, Cho was unable to break free of this bind. A Cho living in New Delhi or Mumbai would have become far more powerful especially from the time that the BJP emerged as a strong political force.
His death a day after that of his friend Jayalalitha is one of those unusual happenings that he would have probably attributed to the divine, not before providing us laughter with some self-effacing satire on his own political aspirations and limitations. In the virtual space, there is a lovely video of Jayalalitha visiting Cho at the Apollo Hospital. And in that, Cho gives us a glimpse of a Jayalalitha we hardly saw – a humane, compassionate, caring friend who remembered her old buddy. That seems to have been his parting revelation to the people of Tamil Nadu.

http://thewire.in/85908/cho-ramaswamy/
 
Cho's co-actor Neelu's thoughts shows the versatality & down to earth character of Cho


Actor Neelu on his 60-year old bond with Cho

Geetha Venkataramanan December 08, 2016 18:17 I

09fr_Cho_1.jpg1

Cho Ramasamy | Photo Credit: Courtesy: Neelu

Actor Neelu speaks to Geetha Venkataramanan about the 60-year bond that he shared with Cho.

“A friend is someone who is with you in the days of prosperity, in the days of poverty, through the days of fame and ignominy and be there at the burial ground when the mortal remains are disposed of.” - This is a rough translation of a sloka, which Neelu often quoted to Cho. “Yes, he was a true friend and I have just returned from the crematorium,” said Neelu. “And for 60 years we were there for each other,” he added.
“I will miss him terribly, but he wanted to go. He was suffering and life had become a burden although he was guiding the Tughlak editorial team, dictating articles and correcting proofs till a week ago,” he says almost in a whisper. Neelu was moved to find that 87-year old Sethuraman and 84-year old Kathadi Kittu were there to see their beloved friend off.
It was a quartet - Neelu, Cho, brother Ambi and Narayanaswamy - that met almost daily over a cup of coffee for small talk. This has continued till today. Narayanswamy is the person who engages Cho in a dialogue as prelude to the episodes of the teleserial ‘Engae Brahmanan?’
PbQWFgHSiHYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=











Cho’s entry into journalism was not planned just as his foray into theatre was accidental too. “He was only assisting the UAA with their sets, etc. Of course the skits he wrote for Vivekananda College in the inter-collegiate contest won shields and the seeds were sown. It was Sambu Iyer of Triplicane Fine Arts, who was instrumental in his stepping into drama in a big way. Cast as detective Chandru in Devan’s ‘Sriman Sudarasanam,’ Cho’s style of interrogation stole the show. The audience simply loved him and there was no looking back,” recalls Neelu.
Young Men’s Fine Arts, the troupe friends had formed became Viveka Fine Arts, a reference to their alma mater. Bhagirathan wrote a play for them with meaty characters for both Neelu and Ambi. Cho threatened the playwright with dire consequences if he was not given a good role. The result was ‘Thenmozhiyal’ in which Ramaswamy was cast as Cho, a sobriquet that would become his name for the rest of his life. Tamil journals raved the play and Cho’s acting. Kalki’s Sama’s cartoon clinched it for the budding dramatist.
‘If I get it,’ ‘Why not?’ ... a string of plays followed. Why this fascination for English titles? “This question was raised even then and Cho responded with ‘Quo Vadis,’” chuckles Neelu. Ever the prankster, he refused to take anything seriously. Viveka found patronage in all parts of the City. A feat at that point in time when theatre was flourishing with stalwarts staging their plays at regular intervals. “Raja Annamalai Manram, however, was an exception,” says Neelu. The all-male troupe did not impress them.
“But we had no choice. We were doing this quite against the wish of our parents. Imagine having a girl in the troupe! Cho actually passed off very well as a woman, we thought,” says Neelu. Sukumari’s entry changed all that. “Frank and friendly, she quickly integrated herself into our team, which had become a family of sorts.”
Behind the success of the plays was Cho’s acumen in casting. “He knew how each of us would fit into his characters. The roles that he gave me, as Yamadarmarajan, politician and the advocate, brought out different dimensions in my acting talent,” he elaborates.
On the personal front, Cho was in a way supporting his friends, being the only earning member. Bread winner of sorts? “You can say that again,” affirms Neelu. “He had finished his study of law and was legal advisor to a private firm. Rest of us would visit him at his chambers in the High Court and he would treat us to tiffin. He was heartbroken when I found a job and had to go to Calcutta. I would come down for shows and we exchanged letters but he was not happy.”
In one such missive, Cho sought Neelu’s opinion regarding a chance to act in films. “Why not? I encouraged him and the rest, as you say, is history.” Neelu shared screen space with his friend in quite a few films. Cho went on to write dialogue and even direct. “You know, till the end, his mother never approved of his cinema entry and did not see a single film in which he acted. But Viveka had her whole hearted support,” supplies Neelu.
Did Cho aim to carry messages through his plays? “Are you kidding?” counters Neelu. “He did it for fun and the ambience lent itself wonderfully. ‘I’m not a Buddha or Ramana Maharishi to preach and who will take me seriously?’ he quipped when someone mentioned this aspect,” remembers Neelu. In fact, over the mike before the start of a play, Cho thanked the ‘present day politicians’ for behaving so predictably and making his plays a success.
But the friends strongly advised Cho not to dabble in journalism. But Cho went ahead with the support of Ananda Vikatan Balasubramaniam. ‘Tughlak’ was born and was the only journal that defied Emergency continuing to print.
Was it not a painful decision to wind up Viveka Fine Arts? Cho was quite practical about it, according to Neelu. “He began to show signs of detachment long before he decided. He often said, ‘Let’s just meet as usual and talk, have fun. Why bother with plays?’ And took the call one fine day.”
Neelu is the only Viveka member active in the theatre circuit. Crazy Mohan’s ‘Chocolate Krishna’ and ‘Google Gadotgajan’ keep this 80-year old veteran busy. ‘Nataka Padmam,’ conferred by Brahma Gana Sabha recently is yet another feather in his cap. “I showed Cho the letter from the sabha and he was very happy. ‘Rather late, you should have got this long ago,’ he remarked. He spoke warmly to Ambi about an interview that had appeared in an English daily recently.”
Deeply spiritual, Cho’s knowledge came through in his articles. ‘Engae Brahmanan,’ book that was serialised for television, however, had a tremendous reach. “Viewers in the U.S., and Gulf responded to say his simple interpretations were so useful.”
Each chapter of ‘Vande Mataram,’ that Cho wrote in Tughlak (later released as a book by Alliance), had a Sanskrit verse, sourced from the Upanishad or Kautinya. At the end of the final chapter, after 50 weeks, Cho confessed that the verses were his own! “You wouldn’t have given it a second look if I had told you that. Now the purpose is served,” he wrote.
An angry young man, Cho mellowed in the later years, reveals Neelu. “We always travelled together for shows outside Chennai and he never sought privileges for himself. Opinions were given openly; no behind the back stuff, be it Vajpayee, Morarji Desai or Narendra Modi. This was born out of fearlessness and the determination to not seek favours,” underlines Neelu.
World as a stage
After reading ‘Naadagamae Ulagam,’ a beaming Cho congratulated Neelu on the effort. “He was thrilled that our salad days and the bonds of friendship some of us shared came through. Knowing that he was ill, I was in a hurry to finish the book and was happy when I got the copy printed. Yet to be officially released, it is my humble offering to a friend, who was an elder brother. I owe everything to him,” says Neelu. Published by Alliance, the conversational first person account brings the narrator close to the reader.

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainme...60-year-old-bond-with-Cho/article16778091.ece
 
Despite having enormous influence with all leading political leaders, he has not sought any favour, especially any Padma award, a typical Vadama Iyer (per his statement once); but one of my relatives said he belongs to Ashtasahasram Sect.
 
[h=2]Thursday, December 8, 2016[/h] [h=3]Anecdotes on Cho Ramaswamy - A nation minded Scribe[/h]

A NATION-MINDED SCRIBE

Cho Ramaswami was a conscientious journalist. He had been writing in his THUGLAK on infiltration in Assam implying that all who came from Bangaladesh were infiltrators and so should be dealt as such. But RSS karyakarthas who were well informed on North East asked Cho to pay a visit to Assam and find out the truth. He did so and was helped by Sangh during his visit. Once he was clear in that Hindus from Bangaladesh were in fact refugees and others were infiltrators, he informed his readers of his finding.

AWARE OF ANTI HINDU FORCES AT WORK

It was 1971. Chennai Sangh Pracharak Padmanabhan and a cub reporter Shri Mahadevan from the Sangh weekly Thyagabhoomi met Cho in his office to secure his signature to a memorandum seeking a government ban on a declared procession by Dravidar Kazhagam atrociously vilifying Hindu gods and goddesses. Cho did not sign the petition but assured that he would expose DK (an ally of the then ruling party in the state, the DMK) thoroughly through THUGLAK. He kept his word and thus invited the wrath of the DMK government. His magazine carrying the article was confiscated. But his diligent readers managed to secure copies. Cho was well aware of anti-Hindu designs at work and countered them through his magazine, a rare quality among the journalistic fraternity.

A SANSKRIT LOVER

Cho Ramaswamy had a keen interest in spreading spoken Sanskrit. In 1999, he visited sambhashana shibiram of the Samskrita Bharati in Alwarpet. “Mama nama ... bhavataha nama kim?” (My name is..., what is your name?) was in progress just then. When the shikshk asked Cho “bhavataha nama kim?” he shot back “mama nama ekaksharam” (implying his Tamil single letter name Cho). That evoked a spontaneous burst of laughter adding to the jolly good atmosphere typical of any sambhshana shibiram.

VSK Tamilnadu

[url]http://rsschennai.blogspot.in/2016/12/anecdotes-on-cho-ramaswamy-nation.html?m=1


[/URL]
 
Sad that 2 people who had gained national importance from Tamilnadu have passed away in December. May their souls rest in peace.
 
Cho's demise has left a big vacuum as per Auditor Gurumurthy...But under his guidance the weekly magazine Thuglak will shine like a star

Tamil Nadu is poorer with Cho’s demise’

Special Correspondent CHENNAI: January 09, 2017 08:01 IST





TH09_CHO_FUNCTION


N. Ram, Chairman, Kasturi and Sons Ltd., and S. Gurumurthy, Editor of Thuglak magazine, at a remembrance event for Cho Ramaswamy, in Chennai on Sunday. —



Mylapore Club recalls the contribution of ‘Thuqlak’ founder.

The contribution of late Cho S. Ramaswamy, a multi-faceted personality, was recalled at a meeting organised here by the Mylapore Club to celebrate the life and times of the country’s 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 (Gurumurthy) to write in Tamil. Recalling how he was a shareholder in the magazine in 1988, he said “I came out in 1991 as I was not contributing much.”
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.
Adding that the responsibility of being the editor of Thuglak was both a difficulty and an opportunity, he said Tamil Nadu was poorer with his demise. “Tamil Nadu should come out of the ‘disgraceful condition’ it is facing now. That would be Cho’s wish,” he 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,” Mr. Ram said.
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,” Mr. Ram said. He also recalled Cho’s contribution while launching The Hindu Tamil edition. Cho’s friends, R. Neelakantan, Shankar and S.R. Raman also spoke and recalled their association with him.


http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...o’s-demise’/article17012140.ece?homepage=true
 
Despite having enormous influence with all leading political leaders, he has not sought any favour, especially any Padma award, a typical Vadama Iyer (per his statement once); but one of my relatives said he belongs to Ashtasahasram Sect.

Sri Chandru,

Cho will get the Padma Bhushan award posthumously..The list was declared a short while ago! His ardent followers need not feel disappointed or disheartened! Though I personally wish that he had got the award when he was alive!!
 
Sri Chandru,

Cho will get the Padma Bhushan award posthumously..The list was declared a short while ago! His ardent followers need not feel disappointed or disheartened! Though I personally wish that he had got the award when he was alive!!

Sir,

Is it not an insult to Late Cho? What prevented to give this award when he was alive? In what way he is inferior to Left Jalra Ram and BJP Jalra Swapan Das Gupta?

It is not proper.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest ads

Back
Top