Felicitations: sathabishakam Of Dr Subramanian Chettiar, Alavakottai At Mathur Siva Temple on April 21, 2009

Dr.Subramaniyam Chettiar and

Thiruvathal Achi celebrate their

Life of seeing the new moon thousand times

In Mathur Temple, on April twenty first.

Alavakottai merits as his birth place.

Chidambaram Chettiar and his wife

Theivanai Achi are his proud parents.

Three brothers and six sisters are his band.

The couple is married for fifty-five years.

Two sons and two daughters give them purpose.

His son’s two sons are his eyes’ two apples.

His progeny includes grandchildren and

Great grandchildren, all getting his grace.

His employees are his children in addition.

An umbrella he is to his people.

A luminary he is to the public.

He was born eighty three years ago.

Born in India, he’s lived most in Lanka.

He was born with silver spoon in his mouth.

So are his son’s sons, thanks to his efforts.

He went to Sri Lanka when he was nine,

To be with his father, for better study.

He stood first in schools and got teachers’ pats.

His college study was in Colombo.

The Second World War broke and he was back.

He was drawn to the Congress and Gandhi,

Whose arrest made him boycott the school

At twenty three, he went to Sri Lanka

To man the thousand five hundred acres

Coconut plantation of his family,

The biggest in the North-Eastern Province.

He proved his worth with new techniques. .

At twenty six, he got married in India

And a year later, he started his own

Construction company in Batticaloa.

The next thirty years put him in shape.

He became an influential person

In Batticaloa District and helped

The Federal Party win three M.Ps.

Leader Selvanayagam knew his worth.

The Ethnic Violence erupted.

His business was burnt; he went to ash.

He was a Phoenix to rise from the ash.

Bankers bet on his trust and fund flowed.

He flourished in steel business,

As a sole agent for the Tata Steel.

Even now he is a giant in steel

He is tough like shell but soft like flesh.

His services to the temples are immense.

He serves as a trustee of two temples,

One at Galle and the other at Mannar.

He was chosen as the managing trustee

Of the New Kathiresan Temple, Colombo,

When the Raja of Chettinad withdrew his rein.

With vast resources and large devotees,

The temple provides scope for his ambition.

A respected Citizen of Sri Lankan Government,

He has been a Justice of the Peace

With elan for the last forty five years.

He has been conferred a doctorate

By the Japanese University

For his eminent social services.

He had been a Rotarian President

And a Rotarian Treasurer too.

He values his caste and sticks to its cults.

If at all he wants to live he must live

To help the weak of his clan, he once told.

To build a college for higher study

Is still his unfulfilled ambition.

An eight story building he has put up

In the Temple premises would help him

To start a full fledged college soon.

No loss in business can deter him.

No loss in health can dampen his will.

Honesty is his very characters.

Generosity is his way of life.

He illuminates all but not himself.

He must live a hundred years. He will.

His mother has lived a hundred year.

Let us pray for him and get his blessings.

18^th April, 2009, Chennai