He is one of the most recognisable faces at Indian gatherings.
And that tells something about the man. Mr K. Kesavapany spent several decades in the diplomatic service, which meant he was overseas for long stretches.
Yet, he always kept in touch with the community here. When he retired and moved back to Singapore, he plunged deep into community affairs.
Next year Mr Kesavapany will turn 80 but he shows no signs of slowing down.
He is connected with several organisations that work for the betterment of people.
He is the president of the Singapore Indian Association, a Governor with the Singapore International Federation, a term trustee of Sinda, a member of the Hindu Advisory Board, an active member of the Dyslexia Association of Singapore and an adviser to Apsaras Arts.
Numerous others seek his wisdom and guidance. And Mr Kesavapany is generous with what he has to share.
The Indian Association (IA) is an organisation with a long history, having been founded in 1925.
It has a glorious past, with visitors like Nobel literature prize winner Rabindranath Tagore and India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who visited it thrice and laid the foundation stone of its building.
But as years went by, the club lost its focus and direction.
There were taxes and debts to be paid and the building was run down.
It had also acquired the reputation of being a drunkard’s club.
However, there were some die-hard supporters of the association, especially Mr M. Bala Subramanion, who never gave up hope, and they convinced Mr Kesavapany to step in.
He did, and along with then IA president Eddie Raj, turned the association around.
“We renovated the club and slowly got the community back.
Because of the vacuum created by IA, Sinda had to be created. IA used to look after the interests of Indians here till then,” said Mr Kesavapany.
IA has a welfare fund, which was set up more than 50 years ago with the aim of repatriating Indian indentured labour.
Now that such a need doesn’t exist, Mr Kesavapany and his team converted it into a fund to provide bursaries for needy students. But there were other Indian organisations doing that.
“So we felt we should go to the aid of people who are in danger of falling through the cracks.
We created a programme called ‘Helping people from falling through the cracks’.
We collect our own money so we are able to respond faster.
Recently we had a fund raising lunch. We raised $100,000 for this purpose,” said Mr Kesavapany.
The fund has since helped several people.
One was a 13-year-old girl who had a clenched fist.
When the girl got to secondary school she was bullied because of that and she started cutting herself. She came from a poor family. Her father suffered from depression and a brother was autistic.
“We sent her to Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu where a doctor operated on her for free. Now four of her fingers have been straightened and the last one is being worked on,” said Mr Kesavapany.
He has also used IA to reach out to Indians who are new citizens or PRs, through cricket. But he could not achieve the kind of success he wanted.
“Cricket, we thought, would be a medium to integrate but the experience has not been that good. New Indians use our grounds, play and leave. Some never even step into the club.
They even bring their own food. So we are now working on football for the locals and working with Sinda,” he said.
At Sinda, Mr Kesavapany is involved in social work.
He is part of the Indian Community After Care Council, run by Sinda and the Hindu Endowments Board.
His efforts with cricket may not have brought the desired results but that has not stopped him from working to help new Indians integrate.
“We try and collaborate where we can. There has to be a consciousness on both sides,” he added.
One of those who worked with him in his integration efforts is writer and artist Subina Khaneja, a former president of the Indian Women’s Association.
Said Ms Khaneja: “His initiative to bring the community closer through the game of cricket was what brought me in touch with him, and gave me a chance to work along with him and experience his magnanimity, his graciousness in dealing with each and every person.
As president of the Indian Women’s Association he was my support, especially in our Integration efforts. Above all, it is his espirit lumiere, the light of his spirit, that makes him a true champion of the community.”
Mr Kesavapany is quite happy with the progress made by IA and said it is time for him to step down.
His deputy at IA, Mr V.P. Jothi said Mr Kesavapany’s leadership has brought about a profound change and provided new impetus to the 90 year old organisation.
He said Mr Kesavapany completely immersed himself in community work after he retired from public service and this is something which makes him stand out from his peers.
“He applied his innate leadership qualities and his public stature with humility to connect and contribute to diverse Indian community interest groups in the arts, cultural, education, social and charity space,” said Mr Jothi, who added that he and his fellow members at IA are “happy and proud that Mr Kesavapany is receiving this prestigious tabla! Community Champion Award”.
Mr Kesavapany has also used the skills he learnt in publishing books at the Institute of South-east Asian Studies, where he was director, to good use for the community. He has married publishing of books with rasing funds for a cause.
“At the Institute, I learnt to be an educational entrepreneur where you can use entrepreneurial skills for educational purposes and when I came to IA, I found I could use it for social work. So I published a book by social worker K.V. Veloo and gave him $10k for writing it. He returned the amount to the IA welfare fund.”
He recently facilitated the publishing of a book on independent Singapore’s first post-master general Bala Subramanion, who donated part of the proceeds to IA’s Welfare Fund.
“Currently, we have sold more than a 1,000 copies of the book.
The third book is in the works. It is on Mr J.Y. Pillay. There are many other stories to be told,” said Mr Kesavapany.
Another organisation that is close to Mr Kesavapany’s heart is the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS).
In the eighties, the Rotary Club of Raffles City asked one of its members, the late Dr Jimmy Daruwalla who was tabla!’s first Community Champion, to set up an association to help dyslexic students.
At that time Mr Kesavapany’s wife Padmini was a teacher of special needs children at Dover Court Preparatory School and she was invited by the Rotary Club for her views. “I went as my wife’s chauffeur and ended up as a committee member,” said Mr Kesavapany, a member of the DAS exco.
He said the initial years of DAS were difficult as many Singaporeans did not want to admit their children were dyslexic.
He feels that neither DAS, nor Dr Daruwalla – who was president of the association for 25 years – has been sufficiently recognised for its work. Mr Kesavapany worked closely with Dr Daruwalla, who died in July, to promote the work of DAS.
That was not the only loss this year for tabla!’s new Community Champion.
Mr Kesavpany was very close to the late Singapore president S R Nathan and their friendship goes a long way back.
Mr Kesavapany attributes his links to so many people in the Indian community to Mr Nathan.
“Once you get to know Mr Nathan you get to know a lot of people and you become part of the community,” said Mr Kesavapany.
He says he is a firm believer in karma.
Most days he leaves the house in the morning and tries to have lunch outside.
This ensures he is able to meet people.
He also feels that any organisation or post is what you want to make of it.
“You can either do the minimum or you can do much more,” he said.
He recited Omar Khayaam’s lines from the Rubiyat when asked for the secret of his calmness.
The Moving Finger writes; and,
having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
“That’s my approach to life. Just take it as it comes. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sometimes sad, sometimes happy. So I am not a man stressed with anything,” he said.
patrickj@sph.com.sg
Get a copy of tabla! for more stories.
