An Unpublished Autobiography...

 An Unpublished autobiography

This is an unpublished autobiography written by my beloved mother on 16^th July 1985, just 6 days before she left us eternally on the 22^nd July 1985. Before presenting it, let me write a few words about my mother…

Her voice was more familiar and popular than her face...

Those who had enjoyed listening to Tamil radio plays in the 1960s, 70, and early 80s, in All India Radio, (Madras) Chennai may still remember the inimitable, bold and crystal clear voice of Mrs. PARVATHI RAMANATHAN. “All India Radiovin Chennai Vanoli Nilayam” – She uttered this in a bold and commanding voice.  She had a unique voice and was able to play the roles of both a teenager and an old lady with ease, throughout her career. She was also popular as a newsreader in the 60s. Later she became more popular all over Tamilnadu as an artiste and a producer of hundreds of radio plays.

Mrs. Parvathi Ramanathan had also performed as an actor in stage plays, gave voice over to Newsreels produced by the Tamilnadu Government. (Newsreels were documentaries about social and political happenings and these were played in cinema theaters before the movie shows began).

Mrs. Parvathi Ramanathan endeared her fans by her acting talent not only through plays but also while reading short stories in the Women’s programs and Children’s programs popularly known as Paappa Malar and Siruvar Solai. She showed the difference between the narration and the conversations by emoting while delivering the dialogues of the characters in the stories. She was at ease while delivering the dialogues in both social as well as historical plays. Her diction and pronunciation was one to be emulated by those who were aspiring to partake in Tamil programs and plays.

My mother’s last notable feat was lending her voice to the grandmother character in the popular Telugu movie “MAYURI” dubbed into Tamil around June 1985. It was a true story of a young girl who lost her leg but became a famous Bharathanatyam dancer through sheer will. The young girl was none other than the popular actress of today, Sudha Chandran, who also played the role in that movie which was a box office hit.

I still remember the day when I went with my mother to see the movie at Anand Theatre, Mount Road. She was thrilled to see it and hear her dubbed voice which perfectly matched the character. She also enjoyed the chocolate ice cream we all had at the nearby Yamuna Restaurant. She wished to be more active in the film industry as a dubbing artiste in her post retirement years, but Destiny wished otherwise and took her away from us within a few days at the age of 57 years.

The following is my translation of my dear mother’s hand written autobiography written in Tamil…