My nephew sent this mail. I am posting this in my blog so that those who have not read this interesting articles when published, can read and spread to others. After reading this article, I was inspired to post the list of famous Tambrahms from the web, for the benefit of the readers. The list may raise some questions about some characterisation of tambrahms in this article
Tambrahms
This piece, it must be explained at the outset, is not a history of the Tamil Brahmins, or a gratulatory account of the community's famous achievers. It is more in the nature of a portraiture of the "average or the median" member of the species. In an endeavour of this kind seeking to crystallize the unique qualities of a whole people, it would be misleading to talk of the "tall poppies", the all-time greats, such as Sir T Muthuswami Iyer, G Subramania Iyer, Subramania Bharati, Rajaji, Satyamurti, Sir C V Raman, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Madurai Mani Iyer or Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.
It would be more appropriate to use (or misuse?) the well known statistical concept of the "Bell Curve": a graph showing the distribution of the range of any characteristic within a population - say, height, weight, intelligence etc. This is typically a bell-shaped figure with a single well-defined maximum, an initial steep slope and a gradual tapering further down. Since such a distribution is common in nature, it is also known as "normal distribution". The maximum number in the frequency distribution, also called the "mode", occurs roughly in the middle. It would be permissible to take persons in this range as authentic representatives, warts and all, of the whole community. What follows is one man's perception, necessarily subjective, of the defining qualities of this "representative" Tamil Brahmin.
Those who have seen the 1971 Satyajit Ray classic Seemabaddha (Company Limited) would recall a cameo in it of a conversation between the yuppie Bengali hero of the film and his personal secretary, a middle-aged Tamil Brahmin. The young man "on the make" is a "covenanted officer" in one of those once-famous British Merchant Houses of Calcutta. The two have forged a relationship of extraordinary mutuality based on trust and admiration for each other's contrasting qualities. Tormented by the neurosis of upward mobility, particularly by his frustration over a decisive promotion still eluding him, the young executive asks his elderly secretary the secret of his sangfroid, his total imperviousness to tension and worry. The secretary sagely replies: "Sir, it is quite simple. On a cold day, when the hearth-fire is on, the best position to occupy is the place that is neither too near the fire nor too far. If you are too near, you might get singed. If you are too far, you would not get the necessary warmth."
Here, if you like, is the metaphor of the working philosophy of the archetypal Tamil Brahmin. What this illustrates is that the Tamil Brahmin prefers to function (and function efficiently) from behind the scene, rather than thrust himself to the front, with all the hassles and hazards of overexposure and too public a presence. His preferred position is the row behind the throne (as when the pompous minister briefs the Press). His passion for anonymity is notorious. His real successes are private ones secretly to be gloated over by himself or at the most in the intimacy of chosen friends. Even his jokes are private, with his cynical wit much in evidence when among intimates. His forte is wit rather than humour, unlike, say, the Punjabi's. He is a master of the double entendre and is an inveterate punster, often bilingual and sometimes even trilingual. A random example: At the height of Japanese commercial expansionism in Europe and America in the seventies, an envious joke was that the Japanese multinational Sony had bought up-the Leaning Tower of Pisa and re-erected it in Tokyo . The Tamil Brahmin tourist in Japan watching the operation is supposed to have made the deadpan observation: "Nikkumo Nikkado" which is Tamil for "God knows whether it will stand or fall."
An apocryphal quip describes the Tamil Brahmins as "the best second-rate men in the world." Rude as this remark is on the face of it, it is in many ways perceptive and could well be considered a compliment. (It is certainly better than being considered the worst first-rate men.) The sneer latches on to the central characteristic of a Tamil Brahmin - his instinctive preference for anonymous functionality behind the scene rather than high profile highfalutin from centre-stage. A Tamil Brahmin would readily endorse E M Foster's famous prayer: "Let no achievement on an imposing scale ever be mine."
This ineradicable modesty coexisting with proven competence is the reason why his preferred professions are the great anonymous ones, such as the Civil Service, where it is easy - indeed the required trait - to be "the faceless bureaucrat." He lets his nominal boss, the publicity-hungry politician, boast about policies whose details his ingenious mind has given legal and formal shape to, with all the ambiguities and obfuscations safely hidden in the fine print. Give him a brief of your intention, and he will give it a shape that would pass muster with a trusting public. Like the prestidigitator, he gloats in secret not over the illusion that the public laps up but over his real skill of sleight of hand that had made the illusion possible. An extreme example of this is the Tamil Brahmin folklore to the effect that some of the brilliant judgments of the English judges in pre-Independence Madras High Court were really written by their Tamil Brahmin bench clerks.
In the public sphere, the representative Tamil Brahmin is an apolitical pragmatist rather than a passionate ideologue, a trait that makes him an ideal public servant rather than a political leader. Temperamentally, he is a natural Tory, or at best, a "Fabian", believing in the art of the possible rather than in the impossible dream. A British Conservative of the 1960s famously said once: "Let the socialists dream their dreams and scheme their schemes: we Conservatives have a job to do." This sums up admirably the Working philosophy of the Tamil Brahmin administrator. Grand gestures and conspicuous posturing are not in his blood. Risk averse by temperament and playing for safety, he is rarely given to extreme positions or assertive stances in public. A pugnacious Tamil Brahmin is a contradiction in terms, though high profile T N Seshan, former Chief Election Commissioner, might seem to disprove this assessment. (In any case, he is a "Palghat Tamil Brahmin", a sub (?) species that deserves a special study in itself!)
Intellect rather than imagination is the Tamil Brahmin's forte. (Harsher judges might even say that intelligence rather than intellect is a Tamil Brahmin's strength.) Typically, a Tamil Brahmin is a professional executive or administrator rather than a professional politician or entrepreneur or a labour leader. It can even be argued that this is a throw-forward of the ancient Varna taxonomy: of the Brahmin - the purohit and the counsellor, in contrast to the Kshatria (the forerunner of the modern-day politician), Vaisya (the prototype of today's entrepreneur) and the Labour leader, (the champion of the working class, the modern-day shudras.) Thus it is that you find that some of the greatest Diwans of Indian States of yore such as Seshadri Iyer, C P Ramaswami Iyer, T T Krishnamachari, and T Vjayaraghavachari were vintage Tamil Brahmins.
The Tamil Brahmin is by instinct a Rajabhakta, putting his ingenious mind at he disposal of the ruler of the moment for any purpose the latter chooses. But it is not a passive role of the flunkey, doing the bidding of his master. His manifest intellectual superiority makes him an ideal Amaathya, or Counsellor. Many a ruler of the former princely States had the good sense to listen to their Tamil Brahmin Diwans: this was true even when the advice was to quietly quit the scene collecting their privy purses when Sardar Patel ran a coach and four through their puny sovereignties. Quite often, some of these princelings have been saved from the extreme consequences of their rather lurid private lives by the sagacious intervention of their counsellors.
Ostentatious wealth is rare in this community, testifying once again that a representative Tamil Brahmin abhors extremes. Though poverty and privation are not unknown in the community the median Tamil Brahmin has a reasonable competence that meets his un-extravagant needs. Thrift comes naturally to him to the point of stinginess. A famous story used to go round the Indian Express editorial anterooms in the days of Ramnath Goenka. A Marwari friend asked RNG why he paid his Punjabi editors fabulous salaries while his Tamil Brahmin editors were paid a pittance. Ramnathji is supposed to have replied: "Arre Bhai! My Punjabi editor gargles his mouth with rose water after brushing his teeth. My Tamil Brahmin editor is content with rasam sadam. To everyone according to his needs. Pure Communism!"
Competent, conventional and conformist, the median Tamil Brahmin is rarely adventurous or conspicuously unorthodox. Resilient and quickly adaptive, he would never wish "to stand out" as too heterodox or for that matter excessively orthodox either, despite the fact that until recent times, the "caste mark" on his forehead was a give-away. A favourite expression of approbation in the community is "God-fearing." But his conformity is a convenience rather than conviction, arising partly from his reluctance to be the "odd man out". Ancient taboos atavistically present in him are observed in letter rather than in spirit as in the obligatory rituals regularly performed. His house has its sacred and secular spaces clearly demarcated. Even today, in villages and small towns where the "flatculture" has not yet found its way, a traditional Tamil Brahmin house has the ancient layout of increasingly "sacred" space as one goes inwards with the right of admission to each strictly caste-graded. In cities, where the "drawing-cum-dining room" layout has insinuated itself into domestic architecture, the Pooja room is inviolable.
A Tamil Brahmin's modernity is equally skin-deep, readily discarded in the privacy of his home. He eagerly sheds his trousers and shirt the moment he is back home and gets back to his comfortable lungi and bare chest. Until recently, alcohol was not a domestic amenity even among the more affluent and "modern" Tamil Brahmins and was meant mostly for others who might visit. Though for professional reasons and for compulsions of livelihood, he will go to the end of the earth, he is by no means as cosmopolitan, readily jettisoning his cultural baggage and merging with homogenized non-descript new environment. His domestic pieties are preserved whether in New Delhi or New Jersey and his twin-passion of temple worship and Carnatic music are never ever abandoned wherever he is.
Like the Jew to whom he is often compared, he is a great survivor. One of the earliest communities to have eagerly embraced the exhilarating new opportunities offered by English education in the early 19th century, the Tamil Brahmins had acquired a near monopoly of the much coveted Government employment of the times. This had naturally led to upper caste non-brahmin resentment, which effectively politicised itself in the first decades of the last century. When this self-consciousness captured political power and formed governments in the 1920s in the Madras Presidency, it pursued vigorously a policy of reservation that ended the Brahmin's earlier monopoly of government jobs. This was the signal for the great Tamil Brahmin Diaspora that still continues.
Denied opportunities at home, the Tamil Brahmin sought and found newer pastures in Bombay , Delhi and Calcutta . Caste-neutral professions such as accountancy and journalism became the alternatives. Still later, newer professional opportunities abroad, notably in the United States , became the magnet. And with the ascendancy in recent years of the new information technology where brainpower is more important than capital investment, this dispersal has become a flood. Almost every English-educated middle class Tamil Brahmin family has a younger member abroad.
Like much else in the world and in this country, the Tamil Brahmin profile is no doubt changing. The younger generations are conspicuously deracinated and some of the unique qualities of this community are getting blurred and homogenized with the rest of the world. Older generations still around are often disconcerted by the fact that the young Yuppies are losing their unique traits such as the love of their mother tongue and routine absorption of domestic pieties in an ambience of soft Hinduism.
Sanskrit slokas and Tamil Prabandam verses that used to reverberate in the house in the stillness of the evening are being heard less and less. Raucous rock music is displacing the softer Carnatic melodies and ancient civilities are being replaced by modern brusqueness in the attitude of the young towards the elders. But deep down, not much has changed. They are still the world's best second-rate men.
The author, a former Editor of The Indian Express, is a distinguished scholar in English and Tamil. An English version of Kamba Ramayana edited by him was published last year. He is - as you can well understand from the writing style - is also a Tamilian !
I was just smiling and laughing as I read this article..Typical Tambrahms self deprecating humor but well articulated article...I think many of this unique species are evolving now. The outgoing, financially savvy socially engaging streak is emerging...Especially the women in this Kaali-yuga will be a force to reckon with..We match line by line to our male [Sivam} counterpart in our notorious house-coat/Nightie to their Lungis, tapping and nodding to Elvis, Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix/ John Lennon to the Inspired Doens of Carnatic Music,and while we serve the Lasagna and Enchiladas, Spiked with Molaga chilli powder and sprinkle Crushed red pepper and hot sauce on our Pizza. We are truly in our element while we sip a tumbler/Davara of Authentic frothy Kapi after a good dish of lip smacking Vatha kuzhambu and sutta Appalam and Thayir sadham with crisp Mavadu. We always adapt with great expertise but return to our core in our privacy. Best Thirst quencher is 'Thootham' from clay Panai and Neer Moru with kari veppalai and Perungayam....
Rahul Narayan
********************************************************************************************************
The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Mutt, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Maha Swamigal also called the Paramacharya served as the supreme head of the Kanchi mutt for 87 long years from 1907 to 1994 and is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the 20th century.
Subramanya Bharathy, the national poet of Tamil Nadu, remains the most recognized and revered Iyer in Tamil Nadu
Due to education and a progressive outlook, Iyengars have progressed in many fields and have made remarkable contributions, especially in science, bureaucracy (Indian civil services) and more recently industry. Four of the 19 Indian RBI governors were Iyengars.
Tambrahms
This piece, it must be explained at the outset, is not a history of the Tamil Brahmins, or a gratulatory account of the community's famous achievers. It is more in the nature of a portraiture of the "average or the median" member of the species. In an endeavour of this kind seeking to crystallize the unique qualities of a whole people, it would be misleading to talk of the "tall poppies", the all-time greats, such as Sir T Muthuswami Iyer, G Subramania Iyer, Subramania Bharati, Rajaji, Satyamurti, Sir C V Raman, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Madurai Mani Iyer or Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.
It would be more appropriate to use (or misuse?) the well known statistical concept of the "Bell Curve": a graph showing the distribution of the range of any characteristic within a population - say, height, weight, intelligence etc. This is typically a bell-shaped figure with a single well-defined maximum, an initial steep slope and a gradual tapering further down. Since such a distribution is common in nature, it is also known as "normal distribution". The maximum number in the frequency distribution, also called the "mode", occurs roughly in the middle. It would be permissible to take persons in this range as authentic representatives, warts and all, of the whole community. What follows is one man's perception, necessarily subjective, of the defining qualities of this "representative" Tamil Brahmin.
Those who have seen the 1971 Satyajit Ray classic Seemabaddha (Company Limited) would recall a cameo in it of a conversation between the yuppie Bengali hero of the film and his personal secretary, a middle-aged Tamil Brahmin. The young man "on the make" is a "covenanted officer" in one of those once-famous British Merchant Houses of Calcutta. The two have forged a relationship of extraordinary mutuality based on trust and admiration for each other's contrasting qualities. Tormented by the neurosis of upward mobility, particularly by his frustration over a decisive promotion still eluding him, the young executive asks his elderly secretary the secret of his sangfroid, his total imperviousness to tension and worry. The secretary sagely replies: "Sir, it is quite simple. On a cold day, when the hearth-fire is on, the best position to occupy is the place that is neither too near the fire nor too far. If you are too near, you might get singed. If you are too far, you would not get the necessary warmth."
Here, if you like, is the metaphor of the working philosophy of the archetypal Tamil Brahmin. What this illustrates is that the Tamil Brahmin prefers to function (and function efficiently) from behind the scene, rather than thrust himself to the front, with all the hassles and hazards of overexposure and too public a presence. His preferred position is the row behind the throne (as when the pompous minister briefs the Press). His passion for anonymity is notorious. His real successes are private ones secretly to be gloated over by himself or at the most in the intimacy of chosen friends. Even his jokes are private, with his cynical wit much in evidence when among intimates. His forte is wit rather than humour, unlike, say, the Punjabi's. He is a master of the double entendre and is an inveterate punster, often bilingual and sometimes even trilingual. A random example: At the height of Japanese commercial expansionism in Europe and America in the seventies, an envious joke was that the Japanese multinational Sony had bought up-the Leaning Tower of Pisa and re-erected it in Tokyo . The Tamil Brahmin tourist in Japan watching the operation is supposed to have made the deadpan observation: "Nikkumo Nikkado" which is Tamil for "God knows whether it will stand or fall."
An apocryphal quip describes the Tamil Brahmins as "the best second-rate men in the world." Rude as this remark is on the face of it, it is in many ways perceptive and could well be considered a compliment. (It is certainly better than being considered the worst first-rate men.) The sneer latches on to the central characteristic of a Tamil Brahmin - his instinctive preference for anonymous functionality behind the scene rather than high profile highfalutin from centre-stage. A Tamil Brahmin would readily endorse E M Foster's famous prayer: "Let no achievement on an imposing scale ever be mine."
This ineradicable modesty coexisting with proven competence is the reason why his preferred professions are the great anonymous ones, such as the Civil Service, where it is easy - indeed the required trait - to be "the faceless bureaucrat." He lets his nominal boss, the publicity-hungry politician, boast about policies whose details his ingenious mind has given legal and formal shape to, with all the ambiguities and obfuscations safely hidden in the fine print. Give him a brief of your intention, and he will give it a shape that would pass muster with a trusting public. Like the prestidigitator, he gloats in secret not over the illusion that the public laps up but over his real skill of sleight of hand that had made the illusion possible. An extreme example of this is the Tamil Brahmin folklore to the effect that some of the brilliant judgments of the English judges in pre-Independence Madras High Court were really written by their Tamil Brahmin bench clerks.
In the public sphere, the representative Tamil Brahmin is an apolitical pragmatist rather than a passionate ideologue, a trait that makes him an ideal public servant rather than a political leader. Temperamentally, he is a natural Tory, or at best, a "Fabian", believing in the art of the possible rather than in the impossible dream. A British Conservative of the 1960s famously said once: "Let the socialists dream their dreams and scheme their schemes: we Conservatives have a job to do." This sums up admirably the Working philosophy of the Tamil Brahmin administrator. Grand gestures and conspicuous posturing are not in his blood. Risk averse by temperament and playing for safety, he is rarely given to extreme positions or assertive stances in public. A pugnacious Tamil Brahmin is a contradiction in terms, though high profile T N Seshan, former Chief Election Commissioner, might seem to disprove this assessment. (In any case, he is a "Palghat Tamil Brahmin", a sub (?) species that deserves a special study in itself!)
Intellect rather than imagination is the Tamil Brahmin's forte. (Harsher judges might even say that intelligence rather than intellect is a Tamil Brahmin's strength.) Typically, a Tamil Brahmin is a professional executive or administrator rather than a professional politician or entrepreneur or a labour leader. It can even be argued that this is a throw-forward of the ancient Varna taxonomy: of the Brahmin - the purohit and the counsellor, in contrast to the Kshatria (the forerunner of the modern-day politician), Vaisya (the prototype of today's entrepreneur) and the Labour leader, (the champion of the working class, the modern-day shudras.) Thus it is that you find that some of the greatest Diwans of Indian States of yore such as Seshadri Iyer, C P Ramaswami Iyer, T T Krishnamachari, and T Vjayaraghavachari were vintage Tamil Brahmins.
The Tamil Brahmin is by instinct a Rajabhakta, putting his ingenious mind at he disposal of the ruler of the moment for any purpose the latter chooses. But it is not a passive role of the flunkey, doing the bidding of his master. His manifest intellectual superiority makes him an ideal Amaathya, or Counsellor. Many a ruler of the former princely States had the good sense to listen to their Tamil Brahmin Diwans: this was true even when the advice was to quietly quit the scene collecting their privy purses when Sardar Patel ran a coach and four through their puny sovereignties. Quite often, some of these princelings have been saved from the extreme consequences of their rather lurid private lives by the sagacious intervention of their counsellors.
Ostentatious wealth is rare in this community, testifying once again that a representative Tamil Brahmin abhors extremes. Though poverty and privation are not unknown in the community the median Tamil Brahmin has a reasonable competence that meets his un-extravagant needs. Thrift comes naturally to him to the point of stinginess. A famous story used to go round the Indian Express editorial anterooms in the days of Ramnath Goenka. A Marwari friend asked RNG why he paid his Punjabi editors fabulous salaries while his Tamil Brahmin editors were paid a pittance. Ramnathji is supposed to have replied: "Arre Bhai! My Punjabi editor gargles his mouth with rose water after brushing his teeth. My Tamil Brahmin editor is content with rasam sadam. To everyone according to his needs. Pure Communism!"
Competent, conventional and conformist, the median Tamil Brahmin is rarely adventurous or conspicuously unorthodox. Resilient and quickly adaptive, he would never wish "to stand out" as too heterodox or for that matter excessively orthodox either, despite the fact that until recent times, the "caste mark" on his forehead was a give-away. A favourite expression of approbation in the community is "God-fearing." But his conformity is a convenience rather than conviction, arising partly from his reluctance to be the "odd man out". Ancient taboos atavistically present in him are observed in letter rather than in spirit as in the obligatory rituals regularly performed. His house has its sacred and secular spaces clearly demarcated. Even today, in villages and small towns where the "flatculture" has not yet found its way, a traditional Tamil Brahmin house has the ancient layout of increasingly "sacred" space as one goes inwards with the right of admission to each strictly caste-graded. In cities, where the "drawing-cum-dining room" layout has insinuated itself into domestic architecture, the Pooja room is inviolable.
A Tamil Brahmin's modernity is equally skin-deep, readily discarded in the privacy of his home. He eagerly sheds his trousers and shirt the moment he is back home and gets back to his comfortable lungi and bare chest. Until recently, alcohol was not a domestic amenity even among the more affluent and "modern" Tamil Brahmins and was meant mostly for others who might visit. Though for professional reasons and for compulsions of livelihood, he will go to the end of the earth, he is by no means as cosmopolitan, readily jettisoning his cultural baggage and merging with homogenized non-descript new environment. His domestic pieties are preserved whether in New Delhi or New Jersey and his twin-passion of temple worship and Carnatic music are never ever abandoned wherever he is.
Like the Jew to whom he is often compared, he is a great survivor. One of the earliest communities to have eagerly embraced the exhilarating new opportunities offered by English education in the early 19th century, the Tamil Brahmins had acquired a near monopoly of the much coveted Government employment of the times. This had naturally led to upper caste non-brahmin resentment, which effectively politicised itself in the first decades of the last century. When this self-consciousness captured political power and formed governments in the 1920s in the Madras Presidency, it pursued vigorously a policy of reservation that ended the Brahmin's earlier monopoly of government jobs. This was the signal for the great Tamil Brahmin Diaspora that still continues.
Denied opportunities at home, the Tamil Brahmin sought and found newer pastures in Bombay , Delhi and Calcutta . Caste-neutral professions such as accountancy and journalism became the alternatives. Still later, newer professional opportunities abroad, notably in the United States , became the magnet. And with the ascendancy in recent years of the new information technology where brainpower is more important than capital investment, this dispersal has become a flood. Almost every English-educated middle class Tamil Brahmin family has a younger member abroad.
Like much else in the world and in this country, the Tamil Brahmin profile is no doubt changing. The younger generations are conspicuously deracinated and some of the unique qualities of this community are getting blurred and homogenized with the rest of the world. Older generations still around are often disconcerted by the fact that the young Yuppies are losing their unique traits such as the love of their mother tongue and routine absorption of domestic pieties in an ambience of soft Hinduism.
Sanskrit slokas and Tamil Prabandam verses that used to reverberate in the house in the stillness of the evening are being heard less and less. Raucous rock music is displacing the softer Carnatic melodies and ancient civilities are being replaced by modern brusqueness in the attitude of the young towards the elders. But deep down, not much has changed. They are still the world's best second-rate men.
The author, a former Editor of The Indian Express, is a distinguished scholar in English and Tamil. An English version of Kamba Ramayana edited by him was published last year. He is - as you can well understand from the writing style - is also a Tamilian !
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I was just smiling and laughing as I read this article..Typical Tambrahms self deprecating humor but well articulated article...I think many of this unique species are evolving now. The outgoing, financially savvy socially engaging streak is emerging...Especially the women in this Kaali-yuga will be a force to reckon with..We match line by line to our male [Sivam} counterpart in our notorious house-coat/Nightie to their Lungis, tapping and nodding to Elvis, Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix/ John Lennon to the Inspired Doens of Carnatic Music,and while we serve the Lasagna and Enchiladas, Spiked with Molaga chilli powder and sprinkle Crushed red pepper and hot sauce on our Pizza. We are truly in our element while we sip a tumbler/Davara of Authentic frothy Kapi after a good dish of lip smacking Vatha kuzhambu and sutta Appalam and Thayir sadham with crisp Mavadu. We always adapt with great expertise but return to our core in our privacy. Best Thirst quencher is 'Thootham' from clay Panai and Neer Moru with kari veppalai and Perungayam....
Rahul Narayan
********************************************************************************************************
list of notable Iyers (people from the Iyer caste of Tamil Brahmins).
Spiritual leaders
- Abirami Pattar (Subramania Iyer) Author of Abirami Anthathi and other religious works in Tamil.
- Bharati Krishna Theerthaji (1884-1960) was the Shankaracharya of Puri. He also introduced Vedic mathematics to the modern world.
- Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswathi (1894-1994), former pontiff of the Kanchi Mutt.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986), spiritual leader, hailed as the "Maitreya Buddha" by the Theosophical Society . A protege of Annie Besant
- Muralidhar Guruji(1961-), a devotee of Shri Krishna
- Siva Sri Paskarakurukkal, Sri Lankan Tamil priest resident in Germany, responsible for the building of the second biggest Hindu temple of Europe, the Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple.
- Ramana Maharishi (1879-1950), one of India's greatest Spiritual Teachers of the Twentieth Century. His millions of followers are spread across the world.
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (1956-), a mahayogi and founder of 'Art of Living'.
- Sheshadri Swamigal (1870-1929), was a Siddha or religious mendicant who lived in the forests of Arunachala.
- Swami Sivananda (1887-1963) was a yogi who lived in Rishikesh, in the foothills of Himalayas. He was the first to popularize Hatha Yoga in North America
Scientists and academicians
- L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer (1861-1937), anthropologist
- Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1882-1950), winner of the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the dispersion of light
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995), winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1861-1962), scientist, administrator, engineer and academician
- G.N. Ramachandran (1922-2001), biochemist
- Rappal Sangameswaraier Krishnan (1911-1999), physicist
- Vilayanur Ramachandran (born 1951), neuroscientist
- M.S. Swaminathan (born 1925), agricultural researcher
- S.R. Ranganathan (1892-1972), figure in library science
- Raghavan Iyer (1930-1995), Indian-born political philosopher and Hindu scholar
- Palamadai S. Lokanathan, economist
- Rajagopala Chidambaram, former director of BARC, now chief scientific advisor to the prime minister of India
Journalists and writers
- Professor K. V. Krishna Iyer, Respected professor and author of standard reference books on Kerala History
- Ramachandra Guha (1958-), Historian, columnist and author of a popular treatise on Cricket
- Ulloor Parameswara Iyer (1877-1959), Malayalam poet
- "Kalki" B. Krishnamurthy (1899-1954) Journalist and Novelist par excellence, founder of Tamil weekly "Kalki".
- V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1869-1946), Rt. Honourable Srinivasa Sastri was a freedom fighter, orator and teacher. Was called the "Silver Tongued Orator of the British Empire" by Winston Churchill
- Pico Iyer (1957-), author
- Mowni (real name S. Mani Iyer), short story writer
- R. K. Narayan (1906-2001), Famous Indian writer. Invented the fictitious village Malgudi.
- R. K. Laxman (1924-), Indian cartoonist and humorist. R. K. Laxman is the younger brother of R. K. Narayan
- T. P. Kailasam, Kannada writer and considered as the "Father of modern Kannada Theater"
- Malayattoor Ramakrishnan (1927-1997), Malayalam novelist
- V.D. Trivadi, Humorist and journalist known for his middles in The Times of India. Was known as Art Buchwald or Russell Baker of India.
- Kothamangalam Subbu, Playwright and director who worked on 'Thillana Mohanambal' which was made into a movie starring Shivaji Ganesan and Padmini.[1]
- Devan (1913-1957): Tamil short-story writer, creator of fictitious character Thuppariyum Sambu
Advocates and social activists
- V. R. Krishna Iyer (1915-) (Judicial expert and Justice, Supreme Court of India,minister in first kerala ministry)
- Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar (1883-1953) One of the Founding fathers of the Indian Constitution.
- Sir P. S. Sivaswami Iyer (1864-1946) - Advocate General of State of Madras from (1907 -1911).
- Sir S. Subramania Iyer (1842-1924) - Second Indian Judge of the High Court of Madras and one of the founders of the Home Rule movement in South India.
- Patanjali Sastri, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
- Alladi Kuppusami - Former Chief Justice Andhra Pradesh High Court
- M. Subbaraya Iyer (1885-1963), Lawyer and educationist
- V. Krishnaswamy Iyer, Lawyer who took on Arbuthnot & Co when the bank crashed in 1906. He later became one of the founders of Indian Bank and campaigned for India's freedom.
Freedom fighters
- Sathyamurthy (1887-1943), Indian freedom fighter and leader of the Congress party in the erstwhile Madras presidency.
- Subramanya Bharathy (1882-1921), Indian freedom fighter, Tamil poet and social reformer. Often regarded as the national poet of Tamil Nadu.
- Vanchinathan (1886-1911), Patriot who killed General Ash and committed suicide at Maniyachi.
- V. V. S Iyer (1881-1925) Tamil scholar and freedom fighter.
- Lakshmi Sehgal (1914-), Head of Rani Jhansi Brigade, women's wing of the INA and a close associate of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Presidential candidate in 2002 President's election.
- Subramaniya Siva (1884-1925), Freedom fighter and close associate of Bharathi and V.V.S.Iyer
- G. Subramania Iyer (1855-1916), Freedom fighter and founder of "The Hindu" English newspaper.
- Kalki Sadasivam (1902-1997), Freedom fighter and husband of famous singer M.S. Subbulakshmi.
Sportspersons
- Nirupama Vaidyanathan (1977-), First Indian woman to play a round in Grand Slam.
- Ramanathan Krishnan (1937-), Indian tennis player of the 1950's and 60's and considered the greatest Indian singles player of all time
- Ramesh Krishnan (1961-) was one of India's foremost tennis players
- Vishwanathan Anand (1969-),grandmaster, World Chess Champion
- K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan, former Kerala Ranji Trophy cricketer
Artists and musicians
- Thiagaraja (1767-1847), Composer of Carnatic music. Formed the "Great Trinity of Carnatic Music" along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri.
- Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835), Composer. Formed the "Great Trinity of Carnatic Music" along with Thyagarajar and Shyama Shastri.
- Shyama Shastri, Composer. Formed the "Great Trinity of Carnatic Music" along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Thyagarajar.
- Madurai Pushpavanam Iyer, vocalist
- Chembai Vaidyanatha Iyer (1895-1973), Carnatic music singer
- Musiri Subramania Iyer(1899-975), Carnatic music singer and film actor; acted in the 1938 Tamil movie Tukaram
- Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer (1907-2003), singer of Carnatic music
- G. N. Balasubramaniam (1910-1965), singer of Carnatic music
- D. K. Pattammal (1919-), singer of Carnatic music.
- Madurai Mani Iyer (1912-1968), singer of Carnatic music
- Palakkad Mani Iyer (1912-1981), Musician/Mridangist
- Palghat R. Raghu (1925-), Musician/mridangist
- Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (1935-), Musician/mridangist
- Trichy Sankaran (b.1942-), mridangist
- Dr. N. Ramani (1934-), Flautist
- Papanasam Sivan (1890-1973), Carnatic music composer and singer.
- L. Subramaniam (1947-), Violinist of International fame.
- Lalgudi Jayaraman (1930-) - Carnatic Music composer and violinist.
- Ganesh and Kumaresh, Violinists of international fame.
- Maharajapuram Santhanam (1922-1991), Carnatic music composer and violinist.
- M. S. Gopalakrishnan (1931-), violinist
- Sowmya (1977-), Carnatic music singer
- Nithyashree Mahadevan (1973-), carnatic music singer. Granddaughter of singer D.K.Pattammal.
- M. L. Vasanthakumari (1928-1990), singer
- M. D. Ramanathan (1923-1984), composer/vocalist
- S. P. Balasubrahmanyam (1946-) Singer. Holds the Guinness Record for maximum number of songs recorded as a playback singer. A Telugu Brahmin.
- Sundaram Balachander (1927-1990) Veena Vidhwan
- Hariharan (1955-) Hindi and Tamil playback singer.
- Mahalaxmi Iyer, Prominent Hindi and Tamil playback Singer
- Hamsika Iyer (1972-), Hindi, Marathi and Tamil playback singer
- Anuradha Sriram, Tamil playback Singer.Her husband is also a musician
- Naresh Iyer, Male Playback Singer in Bollywood and Kollywood
- Shankar Mahadevan, Music Director
- Vijay Iyer, Jazz musician[2]
- Usha Uthup (1947-), pop singer and female playback singer in Bollywood.
- Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hindi playback singer
- Balamuralikrishna (1930-), Carnatic classical singer.
- Rukmini Devi Arundale(1904-1986), danseuse and artist. Popularized the dying art of Bharatanatyam. Founder of Kalakshetra. Married G.S.Arundale.
- Padma Subramanyam (1943-) - Bharathanatyam dancer.
Politicians and administrators
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) First Vice President(1950-1962) and Second President(1962-1967) of the Indian Union. A Telugu Mulukanadu Iyer .
- R. Venkataraman (1910-), 8th President of India (1987-1992); Vice-President of India (1984-1987)
- P. Ramamurthi Veteran Communist leader and freedom fighter.
- K. Subrahmanyam Former Secretary (Defense Production), Home Secretary (Tamil Nadu) and Director (Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses).
- Ramayyan Dalawa, Dewan of Travancore from 1737 to 1756. Strategic advisor to Maharaja Martanda Varma during the Battle of Colachel against the Dutch.
- Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer (1879-1966), Advocate General of State of Madras in the 1920's, penultimate Dewan of Travancore
- Subramanian Swamy (1939-), Lawyer, Academician, Economist, Politician, President of the Janata Party.
- L.Ganesan (1945-), President of Tamil Nadu state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party.
- Jana Krishnamurthi (1928-2007), Ex-President of the BJP & Former Union Law Minister.
- T. N. Seshan (1930-), 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India. A Palakkad Iyer
- Mani Shankar Aiyar (1941-), Indian politician. Member of Parliament (MP), 14th Lok Sabha, from the Indian National Congress. Cabinet Minister in Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, b. 1845 Dewan of Mysore from February 1883 to March 1901, the longest tenure for any Dewan of the princely state. Regarded as the "maker of modern Bangalore".
- Janaki Ramachandran (1923-1996), Wife of M.G.Ramachandran and the first woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. A Kerala Iyer
Entertainers
- Arvind Swamy (1967-) Actor cum entrepreneur.
- G V Iyer (1916-2003), Internationally renowned Director-Producer of Sanskrit movies like Adi Shankaracharya,Ramanujacharya and Bhagawad Gita.
- Gemini Ganesan (1920-2005), Tamil Actor.
- Rekha Ganesan (1954-), Bollywood actress, daughter of Gemini Ganesan.
- Jaishankar (1940-2000), Actor in the Tamil film industry.
- K. Balachander (1930-) cinema director.
- S.S.Vasan (1903-1969), Tamil and Hindi film director. Known as the Cecil DeMille of India.
- Kalpana Iyer (b.1955-), Former Miss India and Bollywood actress.
- "Cho" Ramaswamy - Actor, Stage Director, Lawyer, Journalist, Political Analyst
- T.R.Mahalingam (1923-) - actor, singer,director in the 1950s-1960s.
- Mani Ratnam (1956-) Movie Director, full name: Subramanian Gopalaratnam Iyer.
- Y. V. Rao (1903-1973) actor and director, who directed the first Kannada talkie, Sati Sulochana.
- Lakshmi (b.1951) Kollywood and Bollywood actress and TV anchor.
- S. Ve. Shekher Comedian and AIADMK MLA from Mylapore constituency
- Ajith Kumar (1970-), Kollywood actor. A Palakkad Iyer.[citation needed]
- Trisha Krishnan (1983-), Kollywood actress. A Palakkad Iyer.
- P.C. Sreeram, Ace Cinematographer of "Nayakan" and "Agni Natchathiram" among several other famous films. Also director.
- Ramya Krishnan (1964-), Tamil Actress, TV Hostess
- Padma Lakshmi (1970-), Supermodel, hostess and ex-wife of Salman Rushdie
- Vidya Balan (1978-), Bollywood Actress.
- Siddharth Narayan (1979-), Upcoming Actor in the Telugu, Tamil and Hindi film industry, a Tanjore Iyer
- Bhanupriya, Bharatanatyam dancer and Kollywood actress.
- Priyamani (1984-), Tamil Actress
- Swarnamalya - Bharatanatyam dancer and Kollywood actress
- Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Bollywood actress and former wife of Shekhar Kapur
Business-persons, professionals, miscellaneous
- S. N. N. Sankaralinga Iyer (1901-), Founder, India Cements (now part of Sanmar Group), Chennai.
- V. Seshasayee: Founder of Seshasayee Group which included Mettur Chemicals, Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore, Aluminium Industries, Travancore-Cochin Chemicals, Seshasayee Industries, Seshasayee Wire Ropes, and Seshasayee Paper and Board.
- Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico.
- S. Gurumurthy, Economist and Convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch.
- Ramesh Kallidai Secretary General, Hindu Forum of Britain, an Iyer from Kallidaikurichi in Tamilnadu who is leading the largest and the most influential Hindu organisation in the UK
- Subrah Iyar, CEO of WebEx [3]
Iyers in popular culture
- Malini Iyer: Lead character in a TV-series of the same name. The series ran from 2004 to 2005 and was played by popular Kollywood and Bollywood actress Sridevi
- Meenakshi Iyer: The character played by Konkona Sen Sharma in Bollywood movie Mr and Mrs Iyer
- Sethurama Iyer: a fictional CBI officer and lead character in Malayalam movie series 'Sethurama Iyer CBI'. The character is played by Malayalam actor Mammootty.
- Ven Iyer: fictional character in the novel The Holder of the World by Bharati Mukherjee.
- Thuppariyum Sambu: a fictitious South Indian detective, who was the main character in a crime series of the same name by Devan which appeared in the Ananda Vikatan during the early 1940s.
- The characters played by Arshad Warsi (Balu) and Priya Gill (Paro) in the film Tere Mere Sapne.
Due to education and a progressive outlook, Iyengars have progressed in many fields and have made remarkable contributions, especially in science, bureaucracy (Indian civil services) and more recently industry. Four of the 19 Indian RBI governors were Iyengars.
Science and Technology
- Dr. M.O.P. Iyengar, 1886 - 1963 - Known as the Father of Algology in India, did pioneering research in fresh water, estuarine and marine algae, their systematics, life-histories, morphology and cytology.
- Professor Mallur. K. Sundareshan,Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Director, Information Processing and Decision Systems Lab, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson
- Sreenivas Lakshminarasimha Malurkar (late), Former Director, Colaba and Alibag Observatories, Mumbai. M.Sc. Cantab, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, UK. Worked in mathematical physics at Sir Ernst Rutherford Research Laboratory, Cambridge, UK. Fellow, Indian National Science Academy. Post-doctoral Research Associate, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
- M.C.Rangaswamy, Director, National Dairy Research Center, Bangalore
- Prof. Asuri Sridharan , Geotechnical Engineer, Former Deputy Director, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore , Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Purdue University U.S.A, Fellow , Indian National Science Academy , Indian Academy of Sciences , Indian National Academy of Engineering.
- Sir K. S. Krishnan - Physicist, Fellow of the Royal Society, Director of National Physical Laboratory. He along with Sir C.V.Raman discovered the Raman Effect.
- C S Seshadri - Director, Chennai Mathematical Institute and Trieste Awardee.
- Dr.Raja Ramanna - Nuclear Scientist.
- Dr S Rajappa, Former Deputy Director, National Chemical Laboratories, Pune.
- Dr Rangaswamy Srinivasan - Former Scientist, IBM Research Labs, NY and inventor of LASIK laser surgery.
- Dr Rangaswamy Narasimhan- Designer of India’s first general purpose digital computer. Also, Dr Rangaswamy Srinivasan's brother.
- Dr. V.K. Aatre- Former Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister of India (replaced Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Oceanographic scientist, Fmr. Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister of India and Fmr. head of the DRDO.
- Prof S Sadagopan - Founder Director, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, India.
- Mandyam V Srinivasan - Robotics and Biology.
- Dr. K Kasturirangan - Head of Indian Space Research Organisation (India's Space Agency).
- P. K. Iyengar - Former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
- M. R. Srinivasan - Former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
- Dr.Rajan K. Sampath - FAO Consultant Head of Economics Dept, Colorado State University and Former Managing Director of ISARD.Author of several books and journals.
- Dr. S. Rangachari - Renowned physician.
- Dr. P.Vasudevan- Renowned Urologist in the US after whom the Dr Vasudevan Wellness Center at the University of Arkansas at Helena, Arkansas is named.
- Dr. Srinidhi Varadarajan - Renowned Computer Scientists, Director of Terrascale Computing Facility at Virginia Tech and leader of the team that built the world's cheapest and seventh fastest super computer.
- Dr. R. N. Iyengar - Director, Central Building Research Institute, KSIIDC Chair, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science.
- Dr. Kotur S. Narasimhan - Former Director, Central Fuel Research Institute, (CSIR) Dhanbad, Bihar.
- Dr Thirumalachari Ramasami- Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, New Delhi.
- Dr S Parthasarathy- Leading Eye specialist in Chennai.
- Professor Ramanuja Vijayaraghavan - Physicist, TIFR.
- Sonny Ramaswamy - Insect physiologist; Director of Agricultural Research Programs and Associate Dean, Purdue University
- Gita Ramaswamy - Textile scientist; Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Purdue University
- Ravi Iyengar- Indian neuroscientist, pioneer in G protein studies.
- Dr. Rangachar S. Keshavaprasad - American trained Interventional Cardiologist who has performed over 10,000 cardiac catheterizations completely free of charge in rural India.
- Dr. K.Aprameyan - Former CMD, Bharat Earth Movers Limited
- Prof. S.Ranganathan- Professor Emeritus ( Metallurgical sciences ),IISc and Bhatnagar award recipient
- Professor Dr Nallar Chakravarthy Vaijayanthi, Professor Obstetrics & Gynaecology, banaglore University
- Dr. Sudarshan - Remote Sensing Expert - Regional Organisation for Protection of Marine Environment - Kuwait
- Late Prof. Sampath -Ertswhile Director IIT Kanpur and a distibguished academic
- Late Dr. M.D. Rajagopal - MBBS, PhD (Anatomy), Served as Professor of Anatomy at Medical Colleges of Mysore, Hubli & Gulbarga. Had been a visiting Professor of Anatomy at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA, pioneered research on comparative anatomy of Indian Elephants.
- Dr N.V.Ramanuja Iyengar - a renowned Cardiologist - Miami, USA - Actively associated with building the Shiva Vishnu temple as Chairman of the temple trust in Fortlauderdale. He is now pursuing efforts for restoration/renovation of the Gunjanarasimhaswamy temple in T.Narasipur, Mysore district, India
- Venkataramanan Soundararajan - Biological Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Nanobiomaterials Researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. Graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, India in 2005. Founded the education consultancy company Lakshyas in 2005 and the Ignited Mind Council in 2006 of which he is currently the chairman.
- Mr N.V.V.Char, Formerly Commissioner (Eastern Rivers) and Chairman, Brahmaputra Board of the Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India, is a renowned civil engineer and has been involved in fruitful negotiations of the Mahakali Water Sharing Treaty with Nepal and the Farakka -Ganga Water Sharing -Treaty with Bangladesh and has played a significant role in resolving issues connected with the most controversial Sardar Sarovar Multipurpose Project on the Naramada river. He is now very well known as consultant in the field of Hydropower development in India.
- Dr. S.Sridhar - Aero Space Engineer for 20 years in several aerospace companies in USA, followed by more than 10 years computer companiesand is currently a programme manager of Sun MicroSystem in San Diego, USA
- Dr. Krishnamachar Harish - Surgical Oncologist for 15 years and contributed towards pioneering research in Cancer surgery, is currently the Dean of the Oncology department at the M.S.R. Hospital, Bangalore
- V.L. Narasimhan - Associate Director at High Energy Materials Research Labs Pune and a 2 time AGNI award winner
- Mannargudi Rengarajan Rajesh - Prominent Home Theatre Professional from Chennai. Involved in widely publicising the concept of Home theatres and micro electronics in Chennai and Singapore.
- Dr. S.Sampath Iyengar, Geologist and renowned Mineralogist of the Technology of Materials Laboratory, in California, who did original research work on the Mysterious Crop Circles. His work has been covered in shows in History Channel and also in a show called Uncalled Mysteries.
- Dr.G.Sundararajan-Bhatnagar award winner and Director ARCI, Hyderabad ( Metallurgist)
- Dr.Rama Govindarajan- IIT Alumnus & Bhatnagar award recipient
- Dr. Prof. Venkateshan Shakkottai - Professor of heat transfer at IIT, Chennai and author of the text book 'First Course in Heat Transfer'.
- Dr.Venkatavaradan-Astrophysicist and Erswhile Director, Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai
- Dr. Vijay V. Raghavan- Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, University of Louisiana
Mathematics
- Prof. A S Rangarajan, Professor of Mathematics,Retired as Additional Director of Collegiate Education, govt. of Karnataka
- Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan - world renowned Mathematician.
- K.R.Parthasarathy- Professor Emeritus at the Indian Statistical Institute of New Delhi
- Prof Thothatri Iyengar - Professor of Mathematics, St Joseph's College, Tiruchi, and teacher of A P J Abdul Kalam
- S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan - Abel Prize awardee 2007.
- Ramakrishnan - Actuary - Consultant for various insurance companies
- Professor Chidambaram Padmanabhan Ramanujam - Mathematician, TIFR.
- T.S.Vijayaraghavan - Eminent Mathematician.
- Professor Mudumbai Narasimhan - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society (1996).
- Professor Madabusi Raghunathan - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society (2000).
- Professor Conjeeveram Seshadri - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society (1988).
- Professor Mandyam Srinivasan - Fellow of the Royal Society (2001).
- Professor Cadambathur Tiruvenkatacharlu Rajagopal - Mathematician, Ramanujan Institute
- S Ramanan -Mathematician and TIFR Professor
- Prof G Rangarajan-Prof of Mathematics and HOD , department of Mathematics, IISc .
Music
- Ariyakudi T. Ramanuja Iyengar - Renowned Carnatic musician.
- Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar - Veena Maestro.
- Varaha swamy - Gottuvadya Maestro
- Madurai T. N. Seshagopalan - Carnatic music maestro.
- Chitraveena Ravi Kiran - Chitraveena maestro & Child Prodigy.
- Guitar Prasanna - Carnatic Guitar pioneer and Jazz fusion composer.
- Annamacharya - Vaishnava Saint and Carnatic Music Composer.
- Tiger Varadachariar - Renowned Carnatic Music Exponent.
- T.B.Narasimhachar - aka 'Saragrahi', renowned Carnatic Music Critic and Sabha organiser.
- BS Raja Iyengar : Carnatic Vocal
- Chitte Krishna Iyengar : Carnatic Vocal
- M.O. Srinivasan, 1918 - 2004 - Retired Indian test cricketer and Founder of Dasanjali, a music school that taught semi-classical Indian music (bhajans, abhangs, thumris, etc.) to scores of students, many of whom have become famous professional singers today. His musical tradition is continued today by his son, M.O. Parthasarathy in Chennai and his nephew, Partha Mandayam in San Diego.
- Belakavadi Srinivasa Iyengar : Carniatic Vocal
- M J.sreenivasa Iyengar : Veena
- Veena Chokkama : Veena & Vocal - Carnatic Music
- Srirnagam Gopalaaratam : Vocal
- Neelamma Kadambi : Veena & Vocal - Carnatic Music
- Rajalakshmi Tirunarayanan : Veena
- Vasundara Das - Musician.
- Sudha Raghunathan - Carnatic Vocal.
- Mrs.Vedavalli - Carnatic Vocal
- NS Krishnaswamy Iyengar - Carnatic Vocal; Guru of DK Pattammal
- T M Krishna - Carnatic Vocal.
- Sangeetha Bhushana M A Narasimhachar- Carnatic Vocal Exponent
- Latha Rajnikanth Notable personality and singer wife of Rajnikanth Tamil Film Actor
- Prithvi Kumar Drummer/Percussionist
- Lakshmi Rangarajan Notable Carnatic Vocalist
- Harini - Film Singer
- Blazee - Rap Singer
- Vellore Dr.A.R.Srinivasan- Carnatic musician, percussionist, and author of kirthanas.
Journalism
- Sudha Chandran, Film actress, TV personality.
- Sudha Sadanand, TV personality
- N. Ram - Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu.
- TCA Srinivasa-Raghavan - Columnist, Business Standard of India.
- Late A.G. Venkatachari- Former Editor of Dinamani
- Seshadri Chari - Editor, The Organiser, periodical of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
- Sreenivasan Jain - Of iyengar heritage and correspondent for NDTV.
- Madhan - Cartoonist.
- Keshav, V Pitchumani - Cartoonist The Hindu, Painter.
- Sandilyan - Tamil Novelist
- Deepam Naa.Parthasarathy - Author, Tamil Novelist, Founder of Deepam, a Tamil literary magazine.
- T. S. SreenivasaRaghavan - Correspondent, The Times of India.
- Seetha Parthasarathy - Journalist and Author of The Backroom Brigade: How a Few Intrepid Entrepreneurs Brought the World to India.
- Vai. Mu. Kodainayaki Ammal - First woman editor in Tamil, Jaganmohini, Tamil monthly, and novelist(1903-1960).
- V.K.Narasimhan - Ex-Editor-in-chief, Indian Express.
- S.Narasimhan - Ex-Asst. Editor, Indian Express, Bangalore.
- V.N.Narayan - Editor Bhavan's Journal of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
- Indra Soundarrajan - Story Writer - Tamil
- Sriram Sridharan Sriperumbudur-Echambadi - Chennai's famous student blogger at Orangeman Burns - Sriram Sridharan's blog.
- R V Chari - Ex Editor of Economic Times
- N S Jagannathan - Former Editor-in-Chief, The Indian Express.
- K.Partha Sarathy - Senior Reporter ETV News
- Prema Nandakumar - Author and Free-lance journalist
- 'Sujatha'Rangarajan-writer and films script writer
- Veeraraghavachariar - owner of The Hindu newspaper in 1898
- Vengrai Parthasarathy - Ex-Senior Public Relations Manager, he is now an acclaimed writer on the internet and on several newspapers and magazines around the world.
- S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar - legal advisor to The Hindu newspaper and later owner of The Hindu newspaper that has since been passed down to his family
Industry
- Partha Iyengar - Research Vice President, Gartner Inc.
- Ms. Shobana Ramachandran - Chairperson TVS Tyres Ltd
- M. R. Narasimha Iyengar - Founder, Mysore Lamps
- Shailesh Ayyangar - Managing Director, Aventis Pharma Ltd
- Dr. Krishna Bharat- Principal Scientist, Google Inc.
- Pulavanur Chakrapani Iyengar - ESSEE Industries Ltd
- Srikanth Nadhamuni - part of the team that first pioneered the Intel Pentium chip
- Narasimha Chari -Chief Architect, Tropos networks
- Uday Garudachar - Managing Director and Promoter of Garuda Group, the group which owns Garuda Mall in Bangalore
- G. R. Gopinath - CEO and Co-Founder of Air Deccan
- Sampath Iyengar -CEO, PSI Systems
- M Sampath Kumar -Father of m.Siddharth
- Sridar Iyengar - Director of Infosys and President of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) in Silicon Valley
- Suresh Krishna - CEO, Sundaram Fasteners
- A Krishnan - Ex Managing Director, State Bank of Mysore, Author of a rendition of The Ramayana
- N Sampath Kumar - Executive Director, Finance, IndusInd Bank Ltd.
- Ravi Parthasarathy - Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, IL&FS Ltd.
- S V Parthasarathy- Executive Director- operations, IndusInd Bank Ltd.
- Kuppuswamy Vijay Raghavan - Ex-Chairman, Engineers India Limited, Chairman, premier explosives Limited and President, EID Parry Ltd.
- N S Raghavan - Co-Founder of Infosys.
- Arvind Raghunathan - Managing Director and Head of Global Arbitrage, Deutsche Bank
- Srinivasacharya Dy.Managing Director, Sundaram Finance Limited
- Prof T.K.S.Kumar - Founder and Chief Exeutive, Ananth's Group of Companies, Large Consumer Durable service providers
- P Ragunathan - Senior Vice-President, IndusInd Bank Ltd.
- Srini Rajam - Chairman and CEO, Ittiam Ltd
- Shyam Ramanna - CEO of Crest Communictions, a famous animation firm and son of Dr Raja Ramanna
- R. Seshasayee - President of Confederation of Indian Industry and CEO of Ashok Leyland, part of the Hinduja group
- Balaji Sreenivasan - Founder & CEO, [Aurigo] Software Technologies Inc.
- Ramanujam Sridhar - Author and CEO of Brand-Comm, a prominent Brand consulting firm
- Raj Srikanth - Managing Director, Deutsche Bank Alex Brown Securities, New York
- Venu Srinivasan - MD, TVS Motor Company Ltd
- T. V. Sundram Iyengar - Founder of T.V.S. group (automobile and finance)
- TT Srinivasaraghavan - MD Sundaram Finance Ltd
- P.T. Sampathkumaran - Founder and Managing Partner Sampathkumaran and Company, Charter Accountants and Former Chairman of Madras Race Club
- S. Madhavan - MD i|Nautix Technologies India (P) Ltd.,
- N.S.Iyengar - Founder of Ultramarine & Pigments Ltd and Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd - two companies in the top 500 of BSE
- M.R.Srinivas Prasad - Vice President - IT, Fidelity Investments Ltd
- Ramesh Vangal - Ex Pepsi India Chief and serial entrepreneur
- T.K.Balaji - MD, Lucas TVS
- C.P. Raman - Erstwhile MD, Union Carbide and Ex President TVS Motors
- P.K.Madhav - CEO,Maytas Infra
- S.Narayanan - Managing Director, PPN Power
- Venkataramanacharya- Senior Vice President, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, Chennai
- T R.Gopalan, Regional Director, Indo German Chamber of Commerce, Chennai
- A.N.S.Raghavan, former Managing Director of Madras Motor General Insurance Co & Sundaram Finance Limited (TVS Group )
- Deepak Raghavan - Co-founder, Director and former Chief Technology Officer of Manhattan Associates Inc.
- Raghavan Rajaji - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Infor Global Solutions
- Anirudh Chari Author, Cultural Theorist and Art Critic
- A Krishnan, Former Managing Director of State Bank of Mysore, Author
Diplomacy, Bureaucracy and Politics
- Dr. S. Rangachar - World Bank, Economist handling operations in Yemen.
- N Gopalaswamy - Present Chief Election Commisioner
- Shamaiya Iyengar - minister of post and police under tipu sultan
- C V Rangacharlu - Diwan of Mysore
- A. R. Badrinarayan (late) - Former Minister for Education, Govt. of Karnataka, Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Former President, Hebbar Srivaishnava Sabha.
- C. V. Narasimhan - former Under secretary General, United Nations
- C.Vijayaraghvachariyar- President, Indian National Congress (1920), All India Hindu Maha Sabha (1931), Member Imperial Legislative Council.
- Sir T.Vijayaraghavachariyar- Dewan of Udayapur.
- Sir V.T.Krishnamachari - Dewan of Baroda.
- N.Gopalaswamy Iyengar - Nehru's Minister for Kashmir Affairs
- C. S. Venkatachar - Dewan of Udayapur
- C. S. Srinivasachar - Secretary to Sir M. Visvesvaryya and founder of Malleswaram Co-operative Bank, Malleswaram, Bangalore
- C. S. Kuppammal - Educationist and one of the founder members of Malleswaram Ladies Association Group of Institutions in Malleswaram, Bangalore.
- Rajaji - Freedom fighter, national leader, the first Indian Governor General of Independent India and also the Chief Minister of State of Madras.
- C V Ranganathan - Former Indian Ambassador to China.
- TCA Srinivasavardan - Former Home Secretary, Government of India.
- Justice K.S. Paripoornan - Former justice Supreme Court of India.
- Dr.K.Sreenivasan - Former DGP & IGP of Karnataka State.
- L N Rangarajan - Indian Ambassador to Norway, Professor at Manchester University, UK and author of an English translation of Arthasastra.
- H V R Iyengar - (Late) ICS, Home Secretary, RBI Governor, Secretary to the Constituent Assembly etc among various positions in the administrative services in both pre and post independence India.
- Vijay Rangarajan - Acting British Ambassador to Mexico.
- N Gopalaswami - Election Commissioner, Government of India.
- G. Parthasarathy - Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Cyprus and Australia.
- S. Ramaswamy - Former Director General of Technical Development, Ministry of Industries, Govt.of India.
- Venkat Chary - Former Chairman Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission and Addnl Chief Secretary Govt of Maharashtra, currently Chairman MCX, Multi Commodity Exchange of India.
- N. Rangachary - Director, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), India.
- C.V. Narasimhan - Under Secretary General of the UN.
- C. Rangarajan - Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India and governor of Andhra Pradesh, India.
- M Ananthasayanam Ayyangar - First speaker of the Indian Parliament.
- K. Santhanam- An attorney, Gandhian, 1st Railway Minister in Free India, Governor of Vindhya Pradesh, Chairman of Santhanam Committee on Corruption, authored several books), including a critical edition on the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre.
- K Parasaran - Attorney General of India for Indira Gandhi.
- Mohan Parasaran - Eminent Lawyer - SC
- Ashok Parthasarathi - Scientific Adviser to Indira Gandhi.
- Sir Bhashyam Iyengar-Eminent Lawyer and one of the first Indian Judges of the Madras High Court.
- T.T. Krishnamachari - Industrialist, Minister of Finance for Jawaharlal Nehru.
- J. Jayalalithaa - Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
- K N Govindacharya - RSS Idealogue.
- R K Raghavan - Director of Central Bureau of Investigation.
- T Narasimha Iyengar - Renowned Criminal Vakil who was a member of the jury investigating the Arbuthnot Crash and grandfather of Rangaswamy Srinivasan and P Ragunathan.
- Sr. Advocate Embar Varadha Iyengar- Renowned Criminal lawyer.
- N Kannan - Head, Civil Affairs, U.N Mission in Cyprus.
- Justice .M. Srinivasan-Judge, Supreme Court.
- Justice S. Ranganathan (retired judge Supreme Court and the Delhi high Court)
- Sr. Advocate Late Heragu Singaiyengar - Renowned lawyer
- Late Venkatachari Srinivasan, (V.Srinivasan) - Eminent Lawyer, Secretary, Madras Bar Association
- TT Vasu - Eminent Personality
- Jairam Ramesh - Member of Parliament
- Late M.Narayanan - Served as Divisional Traffic Superintendent, Souther n Railways, Mysore & President 0f Southern Railway Association, and Vice President of All India level, and a member of ZRVCC.
- Jagannathan - Former RBI Governor
- Basudevacharya, Member of Parliament-representing Purulia District West Bengal)
Sports
- M J Gopalan - Cricket & Hockey Player.
- S. Venkataraghavan - Cricketer.
- Krishnamachari Srikanth - Cricketer.
- Sadagopan Ramesh - Former Opening Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
- W V Raman - Opening Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
- M. Chinnaswamy[citation needed] - Cricket administrator.
- M.R. Srinivas Prasad - Former Cricket player, Karnataka.
- Sundararajan Kidambi - International Chess Master.
- Krishnan Sasikiran - Chess Grandmaster.
- TE Srinivasan- Former Test Cricketer
- CR Rangachari - Test cricketer
- Sridharan Sriram[citation needed] ( India cricket International- Played for India in a couple of ODI s)
Films and Entertainment
- R. Madhavan -- Tamil actor
- Vyjayantimala Bali - Tamil/Hindi Actress.
- Hema Malini - Hindi Actress.
- Kavignar Vali - Tamil Lyricist.
- Madhoo: Kollywood and Bollywood actress. Heroine in multilingual blockbuster Roja.
- Dr.P.B.Srinivas - Playback singer.
- Y. G. Mahendran -- Dramatist, film actor and comedian.
- B.S.Ranga - Veteran producer and director of Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films with more than 70 movies to his credit, winner of 2 President's Awards, Rajotsava Awardee.
- Kamal Haasan - Actor.
- "Crazy" Mohan - Scriptwriter and dramatist.
- Maadhu Balaji - dramatist
- M.S.Sathyu - Kannada and Hindi Film Director.
- Sandeep Prasad[citation needed]- Actor.
- Aathreya - Telugu lyricist.
- Sadagopan Venkatesh - Vice President Cambridge worldwide Inc. Former DJ of New Jersey FM, actor and stage performer.
- Yashoda Ranganathan - Indo-Canadian Actress.
- Sabrina Setlur - German rapper Of Iyengar heritage (Father Iyengar).
- Chithralaya Gopu - Tamil Playwright and Film Director.
- Vasundara Das - Actor (Kannada, Tamil And Hindi Movies).
- Y G Mahendran - Famous Drama / Cinema Actor
- Raman Vijay - Famous local comedian of champagne / aspiring Cinema Actor
- Suhashini Manirathinam - Film Actress W/o Manirathinam Famous Director in Tamil, Hindi
- Geetha[citation needed] - Tamil Film and TV Actress
- Srikanth - Upcoming Tamil Film Star
- Late "Major" Sundarrajan - Yesteryears Film Personality
- "LIC" Narasimhan - Film and TV Actor
- Charu Hassan - Tamil Actor - Brother of Kamal Haasan and father-in-law of Manirathinam
- Anu Hassan - Tamil Actress - D/o Chandra Hassan
- Shruti Hassan - Tamil Actress/Singer - D/o Kamal Haasan
- Jayalalitha- Tamil Actress Ex- Chief Minister of Tamil nadu
- Vedham K Kannan - Director, Scriptwriter and dramatist
- Air Vice Marshal Rama Iyengar Krishnan-, (Retired) IAF, DRDO
Army and Police
- Aprameya Sreenivas Malurkar - Former (17th) DG & IG of Police Karnataka State.
- Gen. K. Sundarji - Former Chief of the Indian Army.
- General Sundararajan Padmanabhan - Former chief of the Indian Army.
- Dr.K.Sreenivasan - Former DGP & IGP of Karnataka State.
- S. Parthasarathi Ayyangar - Former Commissioner of Police in Madras Presidency.
- Lt Gen C R Sampath Kumar - Military Secretary to Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India.
- Lt. Gen.S.S.R.Iyengar , Former commandant of School of Artillery
- Air Marshal(Retd.) Sriperampudur Raghavan, former AO-in-C(Logistics), HQMC
- B. N. Garudachar - Director-General and Inspector-General of Police Karnataka.
- K. R. Srinivasan - Director-General of Police Karnataka.
- Dr.P. S. Ramanujan - Director-General of Police Karnataka & a Sanskrit scholar
- K.Seetharam- Black cat to Rajiv Gandhi and Aide-De-Camp(ADC) to Governor of Karnataka
- Maj. Gen. (Retd.) C. Thiruvengada Chari- Army Corps of Engineers
- H.N.B.Vasan - Border Road Organisation, Executive Engineer.
- Air Chief Marshall Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, Former Chief of the Indian Air Force
Miscellaneous
- Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya - Father of modern Yoga, great Yogi and healer who taught B.K.S. Iyengar, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Indra Devi.
- B.K.S. Iyengar - Yogi and founder of Iyengar Yoga.
- Srinivasa (Hal)Iyengar - Chief Structural Engineer of the Sears Tower, John Hancock Tower and Spain's Guggenheim Museum.
- Dr. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar - Former Vice Chancellor of Andhra University, who pioneered Indian writing in English
- V. Krishnaswamy Sharma - Founder LIFCO Books
- S Jayalakshmi - Best Grandmother in the world.
- Thathachariars of Srirangam - Owners of the world famous Thathachariar Gardens in Srirangam, Trichy.
- Mallur Krishnaswamy - Famous civil constructer in Mysore.
- Dr. Sampathkumaracharya - Scholor in Hisory and Music - Has authored several authoritative books on Musicology, Musicians, Histroy of Music, and an encylopaedic work on Karnataka Sangitada Paribhashika Shabdakosha. He is the recipient of several state awards
- Amar Iyengar - Some random kid
Ramakrishnan Parthasarathy said...- Just stumbled across this piece through the web, and I agree with much of the article. Nietzsche's portrayal of the priestly (Jews) rides somewhere close to the Tamil Brahmin picture here. As a born Tamil Brahmin and an agnostic now, I still owe most of whatever I am to the Brahmin way. The austerity, the self-understanding everything. The Brahmin life is highly compatible with agnosticism - even Periyava would've acknowledged it. However, most of what we are is indebted to our approach to religion - our beautiful culture, the priestly avocation of vegetarianism, which is conducive to self-discipline and meditation, and lots more. Brahmins possess imagination. This is where I disagree with the article that states that intellect rather than imagination is our forte. It is just that the Brahmin imagination is not the "easy-sensuality/ perverted" kind that a typical poet has, and can be attributed to several factors including our diet. The poet would exploit his experiences that his "adventurous spirit" subjects itself to, a large part being a lack of self-discipline. In contrast, a Brahmin is highly imaginative in a universal way, and even sometimes utilitarian with it. A Brahmin is classified as an introvert, a bore due to his dislike of parties, but usually makes for an excellent conversation companion. In a lot of ways, he is undervalued for his wisdom. I have noticed that Brahmins have been opportunistic, but in this regard he only is adjusting to the modern world. Opportunism is the modus operandi of all now, and when a Brahmin is being so, he just is conspicuous because his introverted self holds mystery and resentment arising out of mystery and the "boring rationalist" tag in others. A Brahmin is great at giving sage advice, and he needs to extend that to material charity too. Thanks once again for posting this.
- Chander said...
- Just to point out the famous Tamil Brahmin Diwan referred to as T T Krishnamachari was in fact Sir V T Krishnamachari who was Diwan of Baroda State. Former Union Minister T T Krishnamachari was never a Diwan in any State.
- Anonymous said...
- Lakshmi Sehgal is Half Iyer and half Nair(Kerala). Her mother Ammu Swaminathan was a Nair married to an Iyer
- cvsmuthy said...
- Dear Sir, I am a nascent follower of your blog. However please permit me to write a few words on this subject. One of my friend's Onbuthuveli Vaidyanathan (a small village near Thirukattupalli, Tanjore or rather Thiruviyar) used to say ( and all of us are 65 plus)that the Brahmins(may be Iyer or Iyengar or other Brahmins domiciled in Tamilnadu due to migration)were living a peaceful life in pockets of villages earlier. Due to 'land reforms' they were forced out of their villages and migrated to cities especially Madras and were the pioneers in English education, to say, they started many convents or matriculation schools and slowly started to set their foot in Government departments. They sold their lands and bought property in cities. The 'reformists' ushered problems through and Brahmins could not find a place in Government departments. Even their due promotions were deprived due to 'roster' system. They educated their children and found greener pastures in out of 'home'. And now almost every family has atleast one living or settled abroad. This notwithstand a latest write up in your blog about 'reverse brain'... Seems to sound plausible! And inducting everyboyd into Government service, who earlier used to work harder has made them lazy. And all hardworkers have become lazy and proceed to office by availing the 'grace' time and even beyond that. Earlier in a village everybody owned some sort of a house and now due to migration many live in rented houses shifting them frequently. And now the skyrocketing prices of property eluding the reach of middle class or riddle class! Thank you.
- cvsmuthy said...
- Will Mr. Anantharamakrishnan of Simposons groups form part of Industrialists?
- bairavi said...
- Madras Lalithangi Vasanthakumari is not a brahmin (assuming a strict definition that both parents must be "brahmins"). In fact, Lalithangi, MLV's mother, is well-known as a member of the devadasi community.
- cvsmuthy said...
- DearSir, As far as I understand history the Jews were living in various parts of the globe. They were hounded everywhere and hence formed their own Jewish state. And one must know that they are christend as 'Gods chosen people' something like 'Brahmanapriya'.
- sthitapragnya said...
- Dear Sir, Meaning no disrespect to Tamil Brahmins, I would like to point to the fact that Jiddu Krishnamurthy, Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer, Alladi Kuppuswami, Thyagaraja, Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, Y. V Rao and his daughter Lakshmi, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Mokshagundam Vishveshwarayya, Jana Krishnamurthy, Actress Bhanupriya, Annamacharya, Srirangam Gopalaratnam and Kilambi Venkata Narasimhacharyulu (aka Aathreya) - all belonged to Telugu speaking Brahmin families and were not TamBrams as claimed here. Also, Annamacharya was born into a Telugu Vaidika Smartha Brahmin family and was not born a Sri Vaishnavite. He was initiated into Sri Vaishnavism much later. His wife Timmakka is widely regarded as the first woman poet in Telugu. Finally, my mother's side of the family traces its lineage back to Sri Shyama Sastry and so far as I'm aware, we hold no Tamil pedigree. Our family has always spoken Telugu and I barely understand Tamil. Again, my intention is hardly to mean disrespect to the Tamil language and the Tamil Brahmin community. I'm only pointing to some discrepancies in the list.
- BHASKARAN said...
- I just happened to post this to US Brahmin Group and someone has pointed out the following missing list: +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Late T.S Santhanam and other brothers,all T.V Sundaram Iyengar's sons. S.Anantaramakrishnan and A.Sivasailam of Simpson group Journalists Late Kasturi Srinivasan and others of THE HINDU GROUP Late T.V Ramasubbier.Founder,Dinamalar,R.Lakshmipathy and R.Krishnamurthy,TVR's sons Late Swadesamitran Subramania iyer, Late A.N.Sivaraman of Dinamani Tamil Thataha Late U.V Swaminatha iye Freedom Martyr--Maniyachi N .Vanchinathan Fighter for Harijan Temple entry,,Vaidyanatha Iyer,Madurai
Saras said...- Wow! A beautiful compendium of "Tambrahms".It felt as if I was looking at a Mirror1
Saras said...- Sir, this is how I would describe "Tambrahms" acrostically! Tactful Articulate Matured Bashful Reformer Avoiding High Profile Media Glitz Scrupulously
Harisankar said...
Behind every great iyer is another iyer and infront of both of them is the greater iyer woman. :))
Venkat said...
Literally, this article is just awesome!!! I stumbled across your blog accidentally when I had a chance to read the poem about the plight of tamil iyer, which I felt was necessarily not emphatically true with all though...I am really thankful to read several other articles at your site. I have literally started reading a bunch of articles that you have put up..Awesome work! Hats off to you!
Anonymous said...
Superbbb... article...
I am proud to be a BRAHMIN...
I am proud to be a BRAHMIN...
Anonymous said...
Sir
This is a beautifully crafted article well researched both within and without. It is with extreme love and respect for the writings of Dr Radhakrishnan and C Rajagopalachari that the pride the writer has for his ilk does not feel out of place. I hope that the people like mentioned keep churning out and make life much brighter and interesting.
This is a beautifully crafted article well researched both within and without. It is with extreme love and respect for the writings of Dr Radhakrishnan and C Rajagopalachari that the pride the writer has for his ilk does not feel out of place. I hope that the people like mentioned keep churning out and make life much brighter and interesting.
raja said...
sir,the informations give an enthusiasm.all well done but how come sudha raghunathan"s name is not included in artists &musicians. i note that her name is in only carnatic music.
hvaidya said...
Ms. Sudha Raghunathan' name is there under Iyengar musicians list
MaX said...
Sir, I may agree to many of the things you've noted here. However, I'd like to point out that the way you want to emphasize on focusing on the middle of the bell curve of TamBrahm distribution, kindly do the same for Punjabis as well. The across the board classification of all Punjabis as loud and hollow is the same as calling all Tams as meek.
Anonymous said...
This is an absolutely wonderful article - Its just so so so correct that I dont know of a louder way to approve of and attest to it....
I think you should add Padma sri Prof D Balasubramanian to your list of scientists
