A T Thiruvengadaswami Mudaliar, A Pioneer In Establishing Mega Size Bungalow Near Koniamman Koil

A Boon For Management Institutes To Do A Case Study On Bungalow Management

Coimbatore was always known for its unique and innovative management practices. The entrepreneurs of this region used to adopt unconventional methods for managing their enterprises in a time saving and cost effective manner. Chroniclers have written about many of these traits and the earliest to do so was perhaps Nilkan Perumal who had written a number of books including ‘Tamils of Today’ in the year 1957. Fifteen prominent Tamils were featured in this book and the only Coimbatorean adorning this book was the jeweler P.A.Raju Chettiar.

The interesting narratives help us to have a good peep into the past while also throwing some light on the unique traits of the old leaders of this region. Diwan Bahadur P. Somasundaram Chettiar of Kaleeswarar Mills used to weigh the outgoing mail at his office while attending to his work. He used to trim the paper ends in order to reduce the weight of the outgoing mail for he felt that a paisa saved a paisa earned. It was done in the interest of the shareholders. He used to really enjoy his meals in the company of friends and never used to indulge in banter not connected with the food that was being served.

Entrepreneurs from this region made good use of the cycle. The humble bicycle had been introduced into Coimbatore by Frazer, the Secretary of Sir Robert Stanes in the year 1895. It was a safe mode of transport but new to the city. The PSG Brothers, the promoters of Radhakrishna Mills – Rao Bahadur V. Gopal Naidu and V.Rangaswamy Naidu used to cycle their way to prosperity. They used to visit the eastern markets and their ginning factories on cycle. It saved them time and money. Horse carriages or bullock carts were cumbersome then and the car was absent. The cycle was a premium commodity during the early years.

The rich and the powerful of this region began to build nice houses for themselves with modern amenities. Rao Bahadur A.T.Thiruvengadaswami Mudaliar was among the earliest to have a huge bungalow like town house from the year 1888 near the Koniamman Temple. Fortunately the house continues to exist even today. He had an office in his residence and it had regular staff. In fact the Coimbatore Cosmopolitan Club functioned for 7 months from this marvelous house. ATT used to travel with a retinue (assistants) to other towns like his father Arcot Thoppaiya Mudaliar.

Bungalows came up in Coimbatore due to the influence of the Europeans and Indians took to it in a big way. A.T.Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar, A.T.Krishnaswamy Mudaliar and A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar were among the earliest to construct large bungalows for themselves. These bungalows had nice offices, quarters for staff and servants. In fact one of the members who used to serve in the office was provided an accommodation in the bungalow itself. A few of the bungalows like that Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar and Dr.R.K.Shanmukham Chetty had temples (Ganesha). Slowly the mill owners built huge bungalows over the years and many of these art deco bungalows are still maintained in a lovely manner.

The industrialists had private libraries and offices in their bungalows. Dr.R.K.Shanmukham Chetty had a huge and ornate library in his bungalow. The members of his family lived in plush bungalows on Race Course and Trichy Road on a 14 acre property. This included his brothers R.K.Venkatachalam, R.K.Ramakrishnan and R.K.Kandaswamy. The bungalow of Industrial Scientist G.D.Naidu was the most visited one in Coimbatore and he had been a gracious host on many occasions. Gopal Bagh (Residence of G.D.Naidu)  must have had the good fortune of hosting the maximum number of people in Coimbatore for breakfast, lunch, tea  or dinner. Most of the offices were located near the verandah or the portico. In some cases they happened to be separate establishments but in the bungalow campus itself. These offices had their own infrastructure. The office staff used to have vehicles at their disposal to carry on their work. The Secretary, Manager, Accountant or Writer managed the affairs in these bungalows. In some cases they had all of the above. A few tables, a phone line, cash box, cupboards, type writers etc., were part of the bungalow office.

The bungalow offices would store the property documents, share certificates, petty cash, minutes of board meetings, papers connected with litigations etc., in the office. Besides all this the family archive would be stored in the private office. The Office Manager or Secretary or Cashier would literally double up as the man Friday and would be in a position to retrieve any information called for instantly. Some of the industrialists used to attend to the work quite early in the morning. Their office staff would arrive by 6.30 AM and boxes containing papers from group companies will be opened by the Secretary and placed in front of the boss. Each company used to have one box which could be locked. One set of keys will be with the Secretary and the other in the company. The boss used to pore over the papers, sign the required cheques or vouchers before even having his breakfast. Later the wooden boxes used to be filled up with the completed papers, locked and sent back to office.

The huge bungalow of B.Rangaswamy Naidu of Rajalakshmi Mills on Trichy was perhaps the biggest bungalow in Coimbatore. The cotton merchant Chennimalai Krishna Chetty, industrialists G.Purushottama Naidu, G.Krishnan, G.N.Sam, G.N.Venkatapathy, G.K.Sundaram and educationist G.R.Damodaran had fabulous bungalows.

In some cases the keys of all the institutions will be brought to the residence of the management for safe keeping in the night. This practice was followed by G.R.Govindarajulu and his family. All the unit heads of the Radhakrishna Mills group of companies used to report to R.Venkataswamy Naidu at Peelamedu regularly. In some cases the Company Affairs person was different from the one who used to handle personal affairs. Former Member of Parliament P.R.Ramakrishnan used to meet up and complete a lot of work from his residence. A number of these old office people who had worked from the bungalows continue to be remembered and Narayanan was the Secretary to G.K.Devarajulu Naidu at his residence ‘Shell House’ on Avinashi Road.

The bungalow offices had separate phone lines and the bungalows had different numbers. In some cases, the phones used to be attended by security personnel during the after hours and they used to keep track of the calls and disturb the boss only in times of emergency. The people working in these offices were provided with beverages like coffee or tea every day. Some of them used to go home for lunch or in some cases lunch was brought from home. Some of the bungalows provided food for the office staff working within the campus. The telephones used to have long chords and used to travel with the boss all over the bungalow. A record of phone calls were maintained by the staff. Ashtrays, cigarettes and matchboxes used to kept in these offices.

The visitors who visited these bungalows were well attended to. In case the family was out, the staff used to receive the visitors, provide refreshments and see them off properly. Payment of salaries, power bills, car fuel and maintenance, phone bills, property and water taxes, farm accounts etc., were looked into by this office. The interactions with the personal auditors, lawyers and handling of the personal accounts of the family of the boss was also looked into. The office staff used to have an address book with a big database which could be used to send invites or sweets at the time of Diwali year on year. Calendars, diaries and compliments were distributed to the near and dear by the bungalow staff. In fact these people used to know the people and their affairs really well. On a number of situations their grapevine was more reliable for they could understand the depth of the under currents quite well !

Recommendation letters used to be given to colleges and a local delivery book was maintained in these bungalows. The offices would store balance sheets, souvenirs and other interesting paper cuttings connected with work or recognition. S.R.P.Ponnuswamy Chettiar was known to archive news regularly and ensure that it was followed up. The bungalow office of T.A.Ramalingam Chettiar was quite efficient and it continues to this day from Race Course while serving the interests of the Angappa Group of Institutions being managed by his grandson Dr.T.V.Angappan. Some of these offices just had basic essentials while some of them were ornate. A few of the septuagenarian and octogenarian ‘writers’ who had served the yonder generations continue to work even today. In some cases they would attend to the  bungalow work even while having auspicious occasions at home. The people who had worked in these bungalows were fiercely loyal and knew better than the residents themselves about their position and environment. Most of these bungalow personnel knew each other intimately and some of them were even related.

Voucher books, rubber stamps, revenue stamps, letter pads, stamp papers etc., were always found in these offices. The kids and other members of the family would normally ‘raid’ the office for stationary. Details of the farm produce and cows connected with the bungalow used to fully known to the office staff in these bungalows. The top bosses used to take care of the personal needs of these ‘bungalow staff’ with utmost care. Many of them would function like extended families. Palaniswamy of Peelamedu lives in the old quarter of the village. He used to work for decades in the bungalow of V. Radhakrishnan of the Radhakrishna Mills family and now takes care of the trees at the Peelamedu Railway Station along with his elderly friends. He is one of those rare ‘writers’ who continue to be attached to the ‘bungalow’.

The memories of these bungalows and ‘bungalow management’ from the verandahs of the bungalows was very unique to Coimbatore. A case study on this unique kind of management technique is sure to add flavor to the syllabi of the management institutes.

—Rajesh Govindarajulu