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Teeing off in politics

Sportsman, industrialist and now Parliamentarian... the many facets of K. P. K. Kumaran. NANDINI NAIR catches up with him

PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT

READY TO SWING K. P. K. Kumaran.

He wields a golf club and speaks on waste management with equal finesse. He hits a tennis ball and discusses rural education with like accuracy. Meet K. P. K. Kumaran, media baron, industrialist, sportsman and now DMK's Rajya Sabha MP.

In the Capital for the Monsoon session of Parliament, and having spent the morning on the golf course, the conversation tees off gently. With measured words, he says he had been planning a two-year sabbatical to concentrate on yoga and golf to decide on life's direction. At this point, the Rajya Sabha nomination came unexpectedly. But he hastily adds, "Once it was offered, I could not turn it down. And I am grateful for it."

Currently `juggling' three companies and Parliament, he finds his sport suffering. For this five-handicap golfer, he laments, "In the last 20 days, since the nomination, I have played only three rounds." But to him, this nomination is "an opportunity to do public good and the opportunity cannot always come when you want it to."

An avid sportsman since youth, he likes golf and yoga because "both require the mind and body to be in sync." Having played golf for 10 years, he admits that the golf course is also a "good place to cultivate relations." He fondly says, "I have tried my best to get my wife and two daughters to play, but to no avail."

But for Kumaran, "Sports started with cricket." He has played the Under-15 for Tamil Nadu and at the university level. He took to tennis only when he left for MBA in the U.S. Holding up a twisted little finger, he says, "When I broke my finger while taking a catch, I decided it was time to quit cricket!"

He is as experienced a golfer as he is a novice Parliamentarian. He says he is yet to speak at Parliament but hopes to do so soon, when a topic of his expertise comes up.

He elaborates his concerns, which include the environment, rural education and healthcare. He asserts, "Corporates should have a social responsibility. They should invest in rural education to increase the number of employable students. It is for their own good."

Having recently sold the Dinakaran newspaper to the Sun Group, he says, "The paper is now in stronger hands, considering how competitive the markets have become."

Responding to whether the media should have obvious political loyalties, he quotes his late father and DMK Minister K. P. Kandasamy, "No paper can be neutral. All news has to be interpreted. It has to be committed journalism. We don't publish unsubstantiated things."

He finds Parliament `very educative,' adding, "the senior MPs are putting me through the paces."

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