"I am a very clubbable man. Like other businessmen and sociable people, I joined my share of clubs; the MCC, of course, and the Gymkhana Club in 1953; the Cosmopolitan Club when India Cements moved into the Dhun Buildings in 1959; the Madras Club in 1966. But the clubs that I have belonged to that have given me greatest gratification were the impromptu ones.
An activity I took up would often become a nucleus around which a whole coterie would form. My passion for walking led to the Walkers Club that had dedicated early-morning constitutionalists. The walkers who took frequent rests and were unashamedly garrulous during these breaks formed a sub-group that was reviled as the Talkers Club.
And the gin-rummy players who made up the Paplu Club - the club house being my residence -- would, I am forced to admit, sell their souls for a chance to outwit each other. ...What I clean up on each game I generally return to the loser, or put away for some charity, and this gesture has acquired the title 'KSN's Subsidy'."
V Narayanan & KSN.
KSN and his hand-picked group of tennis partners met every morning at the Madras Cricket Club tennis courts at the crack of dawn. Initially starting at 6 in the morning, the 'MCC morning tennis club' as it was called sent its first service down as early as 4.30 am once lights were installed in the courts. KSN continued to play tennis till his late seventies.
"I have been especially blessed all my life in my friends. I seem to have been blessed with more than one man's share of good fellowship. I never had to go seeking friends; they drifted into my life by some decree of Providence, and just made themselves at home, to my vast satisfaction" - KSN |
The Paplu Club (l to r): V Narayanan, S Balasubramaniam, KSN, Mohanchand Dhadha, Kutti Ramanujam, VL Dutt, SM Mohideen and V Raman (back to camera) (2001).
KSN with his tennis partners at MCC - 'Morning Tennis Club'.