8 hours ago
This 94-year-old pedals through a Chennai neighbourhood with a purpose
At the age of 94, K. Shanmugasundaram goes by the name 'paper thatha' in his locality. Waking up before the arrival of dawn, 3:30 a.m. to be precise, he hops on his bicycle. Within the hour, he collects around fifty milk packets from a point in Gopalapuram, which he delivers door-to-door without missing a day. But his early morning ritual doesn't end there. With barely a pause to catch his breath, he goes onto his next task, where he delivers sixty newspapers across 8 streets in Gopalapuram, starting from Padmavathi road. Come rain or shine, this tireless routine has been a part and parcel of Mr. Shanmugasundaram's life since the 2000s.
'Even when I am running a fever, I don't miss a day. It is only because I deliver newspapers in this neighbourhood that I got the chance to cross paths with Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi [former Chief Minister] and many other notable figures in the past,' says Mr. Shanmugasundaram. After finishing his paper route, delivering both Tamil dailies and national English newspapers, he heads off to look after a wedding hall, where he reads inquisitively, word after word through the newspapers himself, right up until the mid-day.
He shares that during the COVID-19 pandemic, his readership drooped weakly. A hundred households that once had their newspaper subscription became sixty now. 'But I have never once thought about retiring and staying at home, even though my ten grandchildren urge me to. They are all well educated and constantly worry that I don't get enough rest. But the secret to my happiness is being around people. So, I am never at home, I am always out and about on my bicycle,' says the 94-year-old, who takes care of his wife and has educated his five daughters and a son through the many jobs.
'He is more like a hero to me. Every morning when I see him, I get inspired. Any trace of laziness in me disappears watching him cycle through the streets,' says Mohan S., a long-time resident of Gopalapuram. 'Earlier, he used to deliver water cans and had always been a familiar face in the neighbourhood.' This Sunday, the usual morning joggers had gathered around him, some wobble their heads, clearly among his many fans. Mr Shanmugasundaram was in his element carrying newspapers in his bicycle basket, reminiscing about the charms of old Madras from the vintage cars that was once seen on the roads to anecdotes from his automobile business that eventually shut shop in the late 1990s.
Born in November 1930, an alumnus of Wesley Higher Secondary School, Royapettah, he was recently honoured by the school. He chuckles as he recounts how he even cycled to the event, calling the bicycle inseparable from his life. 'I don't have any complaints about what I do. Work is worship,' says Mr Shanmugasundaram, quoting a Tamil proverb.
In a matter of minutes, he bids a brisk goodbye, hopping on his bicycle again to deliver newspapers to eleven more homes just in time for their morning coffee before heading back to his home in Royapettah for a quick bowl of congee, as he shares, to start his own day.
