The Hindu : National : M.R. Madhavan passes away

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Sunday, Jul 22, 2007
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M.R. Madhavan passes away

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: M.R. Madhavan, former personnel manager of The Hindu, passed away here on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 86.

Mr. Madhavan, a science graduate from the University of Madras, started his career as an assistant in the Empire of India Life Assurance Corporation Limited. He joined The Hindu in September 1946 as an assistant and served the organ isation for 38 years till he retired as personnel manager in 1984.

An efficient administrator, he continued as a consultant to The Hindu till 1994. Friends and relatives of Mr. Madhavan present at his Alwarpet residence recalled his tendency to go out of the way to help others.

Managing Director of The Hindu N. Murali said Mr. Madhavan played a big role in ensuring smooth employee-employer relationship.

As secretary of The Hindu Employees’ Cooperative Building Society, Mr. Madhavan was involved in finalising the layout for the Hindu Colony at Nanganallur. He took great interest in developing the locality by building a hospita l, a community hall and a temple.

“He was also responsible for setting up a school there,” Mr. Murali said. “He would help employees solve their personal problems as well,” he said adding: “Mr. Madhavan was a very fine human being with a lot of humane qualities.”

Mr. Madhavan was involved in several social causes. He initiated campaigns to spread awareness about blood donation. On several occasions, he donated blood to save a life. His eyes, too, were donated on Saturday.

Though involved in multifarious activities, Mr. Madhavan did not fail to indulge in what pleased him most — Carnatic music and jokes. A great fan of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and M.D. Ramanathan, he often treated himself to old audio recordings of the veteran musicians.

Collecting good jokes was his other passion. His compendium of about 3,000 jokes is very popular in his circle of friends. He classified the jokes under various sub-headings and wrote them down. Mr. Madhavan was the son of noted photographer M.K. Rangaswamy Iyengar, who was an authority on temples, particularly those of archaeological importance.

Mr. Madhavan is survived by his son M.S. Krishnan.

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