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worth or aunt Agatha! When I started working , later on,
I found spare time in Mysore division where I relatively fresh from
college wanted to catch up with unread works of Wordsworth,
Alfred Tennyson,Longfellow,T.S.Eliot and others. Wordworth’s
pastoral poem entitled Michael left a deep impression on me. I also
began to attempt writing philosophical poems. Next when I found I
had not only more leisure time in Kalpakkam but a relaxed
atmosphere I could spend more time on a book more bulky than
classical works. Novels of Thomas Hardy, Harold Robbins, and
works of Indian authors like R.K.Narayan attracted me for the
pathos of human predicament. I found Hardy’s thinking process
akin to Indian ethos where he believed in the inexorable pulls and
pressures of fate or providence, whatever one may call.The
atmosphere the novelistcreated as in Mayor of Casterbridge or in
Woodlanders would reflect the mood of the story. Anna Karenina
the central character in Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina
compels one to engrossing reading. The conflict between passion
and filial love and ultimate victory of disillusionment made me a
great fan of Tolstoy. I made such a convincing presentation of
Anna’s conflicting emotions to my friend who worked with me in
Atomic Energy that he borrowed my book and read it happily. The
abject love towards almost a human God in his Gitanjali moved me
to tears. The novels of R.K.Narayan–English Teacher, The Dark
Room, Waiting for Mahatma were some of the novels which had a
great influence on me. In Tamil I found Ponniyin Selvan an
evergreen attraction. Even after 4 or 5 readings I found the novel
as fresh as when I took it up first for reading.
My Role Model:
The death of my role model Mr.M.B.Sarangapani, a legendary
PMG in his own right stirred in me memories of bygone days.
Mr.Mohanram son of Mr.Sarangapani settled in USA to whom his
sister forwarded the letter of condolence sent to her in Bangalore
came all the way to meet me in Egmore while on a visit to India.
He was curious to know how could it be that his father inspired a
person like me to try to emulate a towering personality like his
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