The Happiness Road: 'I learnt through catharsis that life must be faced'

Will he find the stairway difficult to climb? But he scampers up the stairs easily, with the energy of a 10-year-old. “It was no problem at all. It is all in the mind,” he says, beaming! 

That comment sums up who Charukesi is. For one, he’s the humble, quiet, unassuming giant — having completed 60 remarkable years as a writer recently! More important though, he is the rare sort of person who is very happy and content with anything, anyone, anywhere. And what he doesn’t like — and that includes people — he avoids completely. “You are happy as long as you don’t do anything that makes you unhappy,” he says. 

Charukesi credits his father, a homeopath, for teaching him two principles that have guided him all his life: “One is to always do your duty without expecting anything in return and the second is to work — and live — in a fashion in which it doesn’t bind you.” 

Spending time with Charukesi is like taking a crash course in humility. He never acquired a formal college degree, yet he has been a writer for 60 years and has taught himself to appreciate Carnatic music. His articles are greatly valued by artistes and readers alike. He towers over the writing scene in Tamil Nadu; he writes in both English and Tamizh. And he has more than 65 titles to his credit. He is the go-to translator for every major publication and author — from Sudha Murthy to Devdutt Patnaik — who want to see their work in Tamizh. Yet he is so unassuming. He gives away his income from royalties to support causes from education to healthcare. “I do it because it makes life better for someone, somewhere. It makes them happy,” says Charukesi. 

How did he handle his lows in life, I ask him. His reply, “Oh! When my brothers died, I found it very difficult to deal with the pain. I suffered a lot. I learnt through catharsis that life must be faced; we must take it as it comes. That’s how I realised that expectations for ‘what-must-be’ must always be low and satisfaction with ‘what-is’ must always be high.” 

That’s a lesson which, if well-learnt, can help us all lead simpler, fuller, happier lives.

AVIS Viswanathan is a life coach, happiness curator and author of Fall Like A Rose Petal