A daughter takes a trip down Kannadasan lane
Neeraja.Ramesh@timesgroup.com 24.04.2018
It was with a heavy heart that Kalaiselvi Chokalingam left Kannadasan Street in T Nagar in February this year, closing down her eatery, Kannadasan Mess, which has been famous for its ‘tiffin’ dishes for 24 years. Today, she is back with the same set of mouth-watering dosas and chutneys across the road, on Dhandapani Street.
Her clientele is back, but it’s not quite the same for Kalaiselvi. Shifting out of Kannadasan Street was like leaving behind a part of her; for the street is named after her father whose lyrical genius remains virtually unmatched in Tamil Nadu. “There are memories, you see,” she says, glancing across the street, her virtual memory lane.
She started the Kannadasan Mess with an investment of 500 in 1995. Till the 1980s, the street was called Hensman Street. After Kannadasan’s death in 1981, the government renamed the street where he had lived with his wife, nine sons and five daughters.
“Dad was so busy in the cine field, he never had time for us. We could get near him only when mother was around. It’s not that he didn’t love us; we were just scared of him out of respect,” she said. “Actors frequented our house but the girls were not allowed to interact with any of them. “We would peep through the door to see if it was MGR or Sivaji Ganesan who had come calling.”
Kalaiselvi loved movies, but she could watch them with her mother only when her father was away. “My calling was never cinema, it was cooking. I picked it up after my marriage at the age of 13,” she says, showing photographs of her wedding that was attended by the big stars of Tamil cine industry.
Kalaiselvi gets teary-eyed when she speaks of those occasions when her dad found time to express his love for the children. “He would surprise us late some nights with ice-cream and biryani.” She remembers him as a man who never followed society’s rules and always framed his own. “He was a devotee of Lord Krishna. He would do puja so late at night that amma used to tease him that he would be waking up Lord Krishna from his sleep. My mother was his biggest fan and critic,” says Kalaiselvi.
Is the family close to filmdom now? “Our only bond now is with M S Viswanathan’s family. MSV was my dad’s soulmate, his daughters were like family. Mother used to say dad should be living with MSV and not us.”
Kannadasan too suffered from writer’s block - a few songs were written in 10 minutes and a few took 20 days. “Dad took 20 days to write the lyrics ‘Sonnadhu needhaanaa sol sol sol ennuyire’ for “Nenjil Oar Aalayam’. ‘Muththaana muththallavo mudhirnthu vantha muththallavo’ was written at a railway station in 10 minutes,” she says.
Kalaiselvi acknowledges that her father had many women in his life. “Mom stopped talking to him for many years. The last song dad wrote, ‘Kanne kalaimaane’ for ‘Moondram Pirai’ was penned keeping my mother in mind before he left for the US for treatment. I pleaded with my mother to talk to him at the airport, but she didn’t. The lines “Kaathal kondaen kanavinai valarthen … kanmani unai naan karuthinil niraithen … unakke uyiraanen ennaalum enai nee maravaathey…” was for her.
Modern day lyricists don’t impress Kalaiselvi. “I have stopped listening to new songs.”
Email your feedback to southpole.toi @timesgroup.com
AMONG STARS: Sivaji Ganesan (second from R) was among the celebrities who Kannadasan (extreme L) invited for his daughter Kalaiselvi’s (third from R) wedding
Kalaiselvi
Neeraja.Ramesh@timesgroup.com 24.04.2018
It was with a heavy heart that Kalaiselvi Chokalingam left Kannadasan Street in T Nagar in February this year, closing down her eatery, Kannadasan Mess, which has been famous for its ‘tiffin’ dishes for 24 years. Today, she is back with the same set of mouth-watering dosas and chutneys across the road, on Dhandapani Street.
Her clientele is back, but it’s not quite the same for Kalaiselvi. Shifting out of Kannadasan Street was like leaving behind a part of her; for the street is named after her father whose lyrical genius remains virtually unmatched in Tamil Nadu. “There are memories, you see,” she says, glancing across the street, her virtual memory lane.
She started the Kannadasan Mess with an investment of 500 in 1995. Till the 1980s, the street was called Hensman Street. After Kannadasan’s death in 1981, the government renamed the street where he had lived with his wife, nine sons and five daughters.
“Dad was so busy in the cine field, he never had time for us. We could get near him only when mother was around. It’s not that he didn’t love us; we were just scared of him out of respect,” she said. “Actors frequented our house but the girls were not allowed to interact with any of them. “We would peep through the door to see if it was MGR or Sivaji Ganesan who had come calling.”
Kalaiselvi loved movies, but she could watch them with her mother only when her father was away. “My calling was never cinema, it was cooking. I picked it up after my marriage at the age of 13,” she says, showing photographs of her wedding that was attended by the big stars of Tamil cine industry.
Kalaiselvi gets teary-eyed when she speaks of those occasions when her dad found time to express his love for the children. “He would surprise us late some nights with ice-cream and biryani.” She remembers him as a man who never followed society’s rules and always framed his own. “He was a devotee of Lord Krishna. He would do puja so late at night that amma used to tease him that he would be waking up Lord Krishna from his sleep. My mother was his biggest fan and critic,” says Kalaiselvi.
Is the family close to filmdom now? “Our only bond now is with M S Viswanathan’s family. MSV was my dad’s soulmate, his daughters were like family. Mother used to say dad should be living with MSV and not us.”
Kannadasan too suffered from writer’s block - a few songs were written in 10 minutes and a few took 20 days. “Dad took 20 days to write the lyrics ‘Sonnadhu needhaanaa sol sol sol ennuyire’ for “Nenjil Oar Aalayam’. ‘Muththaana muththallavo mudhirnthu vantha muththallavo’ was written at a railway station in 10 minutes,” she says.
Kalaiselvi acknowledges that her father had many women in his life. “Mom stopped talking to him for many years. The last song dad wrote, ‘Kanne kalaimaane’ for ‘Moondram Pirai’ was penned keeping my mother in mind before he left for the US for treatment. I pleaded with my mother to talk to him at the airport, but she didn’t. The lines “Kaathal kondaen kanavinai valarthen … kanmani unai naan karuthinil niraithen … unakke uyiraanen ennaalum enai nee maravaathey…” was for her.
Modern day lyricists don’t impress Kalaiselvi. “I have stopped listening to new songs.”
Email your feedback to southpole.toi @timesgroup.com
AMONG STARS: Sivaji Ganesan (second from R) was among the celebrities who Kannadasan (extreme L) invited for his daughter Kalaiselvi’s (third from R) wedding
Kalaiselvi
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