At 94, this ‘paper thatha’ continues to wake up at 3.30 a.m. and deliver

At 94, this ‘paper thatha’ continues to wake up at 3.30 a.m. and deliver

60 newspapers across eight streets

Undeterred by age: Work is worship, says Shanmugasundaram, quoting

a Tamil proverb. Akhila Easwaran

Sahana Mira S.

CHENNAI 28.06.2025

At the age of 94, K. Shanmugasundaram goes by the name ‘paper thatha’ in his locality. Waking up before the arrival of dawn, 3.30 a.m. to be precise, he hops onto his bicycle.

Within the hour, he collects around 50 milk packets from a point in Gopalapuram, which he delivers door-to-door without missing a day. But his early morning ritual doesn’t end there.

With barely a pause to catch his breath, he goes onto his next task, where he delivers 60 newspapers across eight streets in Gopalapuram, starting from Padmavathi road.

Come rain or shine, this tireless routine has been a part and parcel of Mr. Shanmugasundaram’s life since the 2000s.

“Even when I am running a fever, I don’t miss a day. It is only because I deliver newspapers in this neighbourhood that I got the chance to cross paths with Kalaignar [M. Karunanidhi] and many other notable figures in the past,” he says.

After finishing his paper route, delivering both Tamil dailies and national English newspapers, he heads off to look after a wedding hall, where he reads inquisitively, word after word through the newspapers himself, right up until the mid-day. He shares that during the COVID-19 pandemic, his readership saw a decline. A hundred households that once had their newspaper subscription became 60 now.

“But I have never once thought about retiring and staying at home, even though my ten grandchildren urge me to. They are all well educated and constantly worry that I don’t get enough rest. But the secret to my happiness is being around people. So, I am never at home, I am always out and about on my bicycle,” says the 94-year-old, who takes care of his wife and has educated his five daughters and a son through the many jobs.

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