Writing on the Temple Wall
By Nina Mukherji

Pradeep Chakravathy is an HR Guru handling Leadership Development in one of India’s largest and most successful IT giants. But that’s just the beginning, he wears other hats too – Freelance writer, Conductor of heritage walks in Chennai (with a view to introducing people to some very interesting, non-religious aspects of temples) and author of ‘Thanjavur a Cultural History’.

Techgoss caught up with Pradeep to talk about his recently launched book – ‘Thanjavur a Cultural History’ and how he juggles it all.

Techgoss (TG): Tell us a bit about your book.
Pradeep Chakravathy (PC): The idea for the book came from a series that I wrote for The Hindu newspaper a couple of years back and a desire to do something for the hinterland which I feel is neglected to a large extent. The book documents the development of arts and crafts in Thanjavur; Unique additions include a never before done analysis of the names of the streets within the Thanjavur fort, and a study of the daily lives of the Marathas. It is illustrated with more than 250 photographs, many rare and never published before. Totally the book took around 5 years to complete.

TG: What are the challenges you faced?
PC: Getting information, sourcing books and documents that were out of print and then working out how to write it in a readable, easy to understand manner were some of the challenges that I faced.

TG: What is your role at this Indian IT major which is among the most respected companies in India?
PC: I am involved with Leadership Development coaching for senior leaders of the company, helping them deal with relationship-networking, managing change and talent leadership.

TG: How do you juggle work and writing? Do they complement each other?
PC: I think it’s one’s attitude that helps to accomplish such things.  I travel a lot on work so I would say some of the best parts of the book were written in airports waiting for delayed flights or during cab journeys.  In terms of complementing I can say this - problems haven’t really changed in the past few centuries and the principles that the ancients used to tackle problems are very relevant to dealing with modern day issues as well.

TG: Can you tell us a bit about the Heritage Walks in Chennai?
PC: Most of my writing in the book focuses on the inscriptions and epigraphs in temples. These give us valuable clues into the lives and times of people in the past, with plenty of detail and authenticity. I started the walk since I realised that apart from reading about it people also needed the actual experience.  I feel strongly about educating people on this. So I do these free tours in temples that focus on the role of the temple in society, culture and economy.

TG: When do you launch your book in Bangalore?
PC: It’s on the 25th of March at the Landmark bookstore.  And hopefully like other launches in Chennai and Delhi, this will be a crisp one too.