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A writer reads
 His is a face that is familiar to people who watch Sun News TV channel. But more than that, his is a voice that no one can forget. The deep resonance in A P Thiruvadi's voice is the kind that you seem to hear only in English commercials or English movies.
"People who recognise me in a public place first tell me that they like my voice," says this news reader who has been with Sun News channel from its inception in 2000.
He had responded to an ad in an English daily and got selected to read Tamil news.
You could call it the culmination of years of being an orator and
debator.
"As a student of M.Ct M. HS School in Chennai, I won most prizes for oratory and debates from class-VI," says Thiru, as he is called by his friends.
Incidentally, he pointed out, this was the school that actors
Kamal Haasan and Dr. Rajasekhar also studied in Chennai!
Reading news is not such a tame affair since major news
seem to break when Thiruvadi is on the shift.
"All my news reading days have been eventful days. I was in the afternoon shift when DMK president
M Karunanidhi was arrested. I read the breaking news of
Veerappan kidnapping Kannada actor Rajkumar, when the
Twin Towers were brought down in the US, when the
earthquake hit Gujarat, when former speaker Balayogi and Congress leader Madhavrao
Scindia died in helicopter crashes, when another young Congress leader, Rajesh pilot died in a car accident. Even recently I read the breaking news of actress
Soundarya dying in a plane crash while on way to electioneering during the
polls," lists Thiruvadi, who says he has made "more than a 1,000 screen appearances".
"Since I used to work on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays, I was invariably the first news reader to read news on January 1 in any given year," says Thiruvadi whose Tamil pronounciation and diction are excellent.
 Reading news is a recent development for this talented Tamil writer. Yes. He has made news winning Ananda Vikatan's contest for best
short story during its diamond jubilee celebration in 1991.
It was for the first time that he wrote for the magazine and also picked up the prize. The story was based on family planning and titled 'Velichathukku Vanga' - "That was the day I came to light," smiles the writer.
The prize money was a princely Rs 5,000 (imagine its worth way back in 1991!) and royalty followed as Ananda Vikatan brought out a book of the short stories called 'Mounathin
Alaral'.
The story was made into a single-episode play for Doordarshan by Krishnaswamy Associates in 1992 under the title 'Oorarintha Rahasiyam'. It had the highest
TRP ratings and so the entire team was honoured at a function where the then Tamil Nadu governor Bhishma Narain Singh gave away awards.
"I had another link with DD. I did the script for the teleserial 'Thupparium Sambu' (written by Devan in 1940), which ran for
13 episodes. This teleserial was also produced by Krishnaswamy Associates," says
Thiruvadi.
He began writing short stories for Tamil magazines in 1989. "My first story 'Kanavu Kanavagiradhu' appeared in 'Rajam' magazine in December that year," says Thiruvadi with pride. He has so far written for magazines like 'Ananda Vikatan', 'Rajam', 'Kumudham', 'Kungumam', 'Kalki', 'Idhayam' and 'Thai'.
"There are many things that we cannot normally discuss with people. I use the medium of writing to arouse social awareness and see if I can change society," he says seriously.
But with work pressure and marriage, he wrote less and less. "I did most of my writing during my bachelor days and when I was working in
Madurai."
After a long gap, he has again entered two short story contests being held by two leading Tamil magazines. With these stories, he has completed 100 short stories!
A commerce graduate from Thyagaraya College, Chennai, he got a PG diploma in marketing and sales management from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and a PG honours diploma in personnel management and industrial relations from the Madras School of Social Work.
 As if these degrees were not enough, he wanted to take up law. But he plugged in the entrance exam of the Dr Ambedkar Law College. "Yet I got a seat in the category 'proficiency and contribution to Tamil language' and I am very proud that my writing has such great value," says
Thiruvadi.
But the financial services sector is where his bread and butter came from.
He has worked with major financial houses like Sundaram Finance, Tata Finance and Standard Chartered. He is now a training and marketing consultant for a reputed educational training institute.
"My roots are in Tirunelveli, more precisely, Alwarthirunagari. I maintain my links with that place and my grandmother still lives there. I was named Periya Thiruvadi when I was born (a very common name in that area). I dropped the Periya after my school days because I did not think I was a real 'periya'," says this Thiruvadi who can now rightfully claim this title in the field of Tamil writing, financial management and TV news media.
The
award-winning short story
S
Chitra
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