In conversation with –
Lalitha. J, Brindha A. R, Asline A.J & Joanna Obed
Coordinated by: The Newsletter Team, MCC
Dr. T. D. Krishnamachari is making waves! He is by far the oldest gentleman (88 years of age) to have registered for his PhD in Madras Christian College – under Dr. T. Robinson, Head, Department of Mathematics, Madras Christian College.
He is turning 89 this October 2023.
At a time when many his age would be lying down in their easy chair, reminiscing the good old past, and playing with their grandchildren, Dr. T. D. Krishnamachari, 88 years young, is a sweet exception.
If you are a regular visitor to the Student Records Office or to the Staff Tiffin Room, chances are, you may come across an old gentleman, in plain gray shirt, neatly tucked in, with matching pants, and walking stick in his hand, gracing the Staff Tiffin Room.
A rendezvous with such a great personality is indeed a real blessing.
On 1st September 2023, at 10.20 sharp, four students of the II MA English Literature class, Lalitha, Brindha, Asline and Joanna were there, all geared up and super-excited to have an exciting discussion with Dr. T. D. Krishnamachari.
When Joanna and Brindha initiated the conversation, saying,
‘We want to learn from great scholars like you, Sir’, he said,
‘I’m still a student after all. Now I’m trying to do my PhD in Mathematics’.
He then took us all on a trip down memory lane.
Exerpts from his freewheeling interview –
My grandfather was a faculty member in St. Joseph’s College, Trichy, where he was teaching Sanskrit.
He learnt the language the traditional way, and started the department. He passed away in the year 1938, when I was just three years old.
I did my Masters in Mathematics, and then came to chennai to do my Masters again in Mathematics, [first one was MSc and second Masters was an MA].
Discrete Mathematics is something they use according to their discretion. (with a smile on him).
I finished my education in the year 1957. This subject was introduced only in 1985. So I have to learn all those subjects now.
Then I became a Statistical Assistant, based on my qualification. That went on for six months, and then I moved to Travancore, Kerala.
After that, I attended an interview in Madras Productivity Council, and they found in me the right material, and they took me there, and for three years, I served there.
Vikram Sarabhai was my boss. Kamla Choudhary and other people were also there.
After that, the governing council member of the Institute, was also director of Lucas TVS. He had come there to attend a programme, and he asked me if I could come back to Chennai and join his company.
I worked there for 33 years. TVS was a great company, and they went in collaboration with Lucas, London, and manufactured auto electric parts.
Before that, London was sending us these parts, and even for servicing, they had to send down their service personnel, all the way from UK.
Vikram Sarabhai’s reports and recommendations were instrumental in the setting up of the National Productivity Council in the year 1958.
Then I moved to Marketing Sector in Chennai. Entire South was under me. Then I became the advisor to the Company. When I was 63, in the year 1998, I retired.
From then, I started my education.
After retirement, I was thinking what can I do?
Then I picked up on my Sanskrit, and went through the entire portions, and finished my MA in Sanskrit, and then I went to Vaishnavism Department.
It was a two-year degree programme, and I completed it in University of Madras. Then I finished my PhD in Sanskrit. That was a bold venture, not knowing anything.
The point is that, you get in, and then you find your way.
And thereafter, I went to study Journalism and Communication.
That’s because my daughter-in-law said, by studying Journalism, you get to know about everything. I was topper in the University in this particular programme.
Then I did my PhD in Journalism, which took me five years.
I took the subject of Chettiyars.
There are 108 varieties in India. Out of this, I studied the Naatu Kottai Chettiyars, that’s because they built mansions in barren places. They were bold people, and in the 1800s, they went out of the country, in ships, to take their products and sell them. Then they started taking interest in Banking, and they were the first to start the Banking system in India, which the British later followed in India.
There are 75 villages where there is a concentration of Chettiyars. When I said mansions, you should really see them to believe them.
In a village set-up, you will find a great bungalow. In the bungalow, the first thing you find is the pyol or the thinnais, or the central pathways, where they officially meet and conduct their official affairs.
The next area was meant for the gents of the house. They didn’t have any furniture. They just sat on the floors.
After that, came the women’s area. The next area was for the servants. This way they built the first, second, third and fourth courtyards in their mansions. Then they have the garden, etc. it’s on 45,000 sq. feet. For their children, they built various rooms for each one of them. As soon as they get married, they will allot rooms for them.
There are two places – one is room for the gods, and one is for essential properties.
This is the arrangement they had in their mansions.
They were money-lending people, who lent money on interest. Whatever money they earned in Ceylon, Burma or Malaysia, they brought them back to India, and built these mansions.
They never wanted to settle down in those foreign lands. They wanted to settle back in their own place.
If you know Pudukottai, Karaikudi, these are the places the Chettiyars were found. But today we have all other community people also in these towns. That’s because the people have gone elsewhere to earn their livelihood.
I was interested in Chettiyars, because, there was one Mr. A. K. Chettiyar, a world-travelled man. So that man, he became known to me in 1957.
He said, ‘I’ll fix you in a company. He took me to Travancore, and recommended me for a job. Statistical Quality Control department was created for me, and I was asked to lead the Department.
After I retired, I remembered Chettiyar at this point of time, and thought of working on Chettiyars.
Even today you find Roja Muthiah Chettiyar’s Library – one of the biggest libraries in Chennai. Roja Muthaiah was neighbour of A.K.Chettiyar in his place called Kottaiyur.
Mr. Roja Muthaiah collected all the hand bills. In those days, there used to be a triangular-shaped vehicle, and they used to push the vehicle, and hand out the bills – that included general announcements, cinema announcements, etc.
Mr. Roja Muthaiah collected all these bills and all the rare books of his age, as well.
Interestingly, of all the places, the University of Chicago in the United States, took interest in these rare books and bills, and they established the Roja Muthiah Library in Chennai.
I went to A. K. Chettiyar’s house, which was located next to his house, and did my PhD in this area.
After I finished my PhD in Journalism and Communication, I thought I lacked a PhD in Mathematics.
Everything else was there, including a PhD in Sanskrit and in Journalism.
That’s where I am today. It’s eight months since I joined. We went through a Programme called, ‘Research Publication and Ethics’.
In Research, one important thing is, plagiarism – falsification and fabrication – these are the things that have to be avoided.
When you write, you may find it easy today, especially, with internet around, you may tend to write only from the internet, instead of making a personal effort to understand things, go about yourself, and gather knowledge about a particular thing.
Therefore these are the subjects that were taught. In the meantime, I have to do the coursework – two subjects on Mathematics. So there are four papers, which I have to finish by November.
The topic that I have chosen would be interesting particularly for you people. It’s on kolams – what you draw on the ground, in the threshold of houses. So that’s where I am, today.
To Joanna’s question, on his vibrancy in exploring various fields, he replied,
Yes. There are so many things in Mathematics itself. And Kolam is a subject I’ve not heard so far. That’s why I wanted to explore more on it.
There’s a subject called, combinatorics, also called combinatorial mathematics – the field of mathematics concerned with problems of selection, arrangement, and operation within a finite or discrete system, Graph Theory, Number Theory, Complex Variables, etc., it’s a world by itself.
You must have heard of Srinivasa Ramanujan. Though he had no formal training in pure mathematics, he had the grace of God. He believed in the Namakkal Goddess, who helped him he says.
GH Hardy found him, when he came to India.
Hardy found him a poor man – he didn’t even have papers to write – and so he picked up papers on the road, and started scribbling his theorems on them.
Hardy took him to UK, and he became a fellow of the Royal Society. He didn’t live long. He died when he was 32 years old.
Even today, you can find the famous Hardy-Ramanujan problems available across libraries, and on the Internet as well.
As far as PhD is concerned, you should do it with great passion. That’s the only qualification needed for doing one’s Research.
When Lalitha asked him if there’s great value associated with a PhD, he said,
‘Yes, it’s got great value. Secondly, there’s so much to learn, and you can learn all these things when you are young. When age is in your favour, you can remember and recall easily. My recalling ability is quite less. I don’t know how I’m going to recall a lot of things in my PhD now. I’m 89 now, and so these problems’.
When Brindha asked, ‘Have you ever aspired to become a professor?’, he replied,
My father was talking all the time about research, and it’s a matter of repeated study and getting ideas. This was ringing a tone in my ear all the time. And when the opportunity came at the right time, I embarked on it. Of course I had children. One is a doctor settled in Chicago, the other is a director of a Hospital, the third is a Civil Engineer, the next is a Computer Engineer, the last one is Environmental Engineer.
When compared to my children’s education, I started looking at myself, and thought that my education is nothing. That’s how my education started!
My elder daughter did her MS Electrical Engineering in Houston, and she became an under-study to an ENT Doctor, to study all about hearing aids, and became Director of a Company called ReSound Hearing Aids. Then she moved over to Stanford.
What I’m trying to say is that, you can venture into subjects you do not know, and explore more of it, and then become an expert on it someday.
When Asline asked, ‘Which among your PhDs you find most inspiring?’, he replied,
The PhD on Chettiyars I found so interesting, because I went 15 times to different places to study and research on Chettiyars, to meet people, who were 104 years, 102 year old Chettiyars, who have gone abroad and come back, I’ve recorded their speeches and made use of them in my PhD thesis.
When Brindha asked, ‘Which of your PhDs you find more challenging?’
With a smile, he replied, ‘Mathematics of course. But it’s quite interesting as well’, he added.
When Lalitha asked him about his source of inspiration, he replied,
‘Well, that’s a very difficult question. All the people with whom I’ve moved, they’ve always had something special to offer. That makes you study them. They are not available to you all the time. That’s where books come in handy.
Any subject is interesting, when you get deeper into it, after understanding the basics right.
You should remember that, it’s a great thing to do research, because only a few come to do research. You are a unique lot, a separate lot, whom people look up to!
Don’t wait for age to catch up on you! When you are young, your mind is young. You are bright, you can think of anything. You can analyse it.
The younger age is a beautiful age – you should not let it go!
Especially in such a beautiful place like Madras Christian College, which has nature’s bounty in 300 plus acres of greenery, you can do anything amazing and extraordinary in this place, signed off, Dr. Krishnamachari on such a vibrant, positive high!
– Newsletter Team, Madras Christian College
