T S Ramaswamy

A Life of Substance

Obituary

Advocate T. S. Ramaswamy (“TSR”) passed away at nearly 95, concluding a life of exceptional range and accomplishment.

For over six decades, he practiced at the Madras High Court, earning a reputation for preparation, precision, and integrity. In his early years at the Bar, he appeared for senior Congress leader G. K. Moopanar, beginning a legal career that lasted more than six decades. He later served as Secretary of the Madras Bar Association during the 1970s and remained professionally active well into his nineties, continuing to appear in court remotely almost until the end of his life.

Over the years, he mentored and trained several younger lawyers who went on to distinguished judicial careers, including Justice G. Jayachandran and Justice P. N. Prakash of the Madras High Court. Many carried forward his emphasis on preparation, discipline, and professional ethics.

Outside the courtroom, TSR was widely respected in Chennai cricketing circles as a mentor and patron who supported young players long before cricket became commercialized. Cricketers including Sridharan Sriram, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Subramaniam Badrinath benefited from his encouragement and support. Sriram once described him as belonging to “a rare breed who promoted cricket and cricketers for the sheer passion of the game.” In his autobiography, Ashwin recalled how, as a young boy playing for the TSR club, Ramaswamy publicly praised his fielding performance and rewarded him with a prize — a moment he never forgot.

Alongside law and cricket, TSR maintained a lifelong engagement with literature, philosophy, and religion. He was a passionate admirer of Shakespeare and 19th century English literature, especially the works of Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens, and quoted them constantly in conversation. Even in his eighties, he gathered members of his Probus club to stage Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, personally reciting Antony’s oration on stage. In his younger years, he wrote and published many short stories, winning prizes.

He later earned a PhD in Vaishnavism and authored Judicial Solutions to Temple Disputes, based on his doctoral thesis — a work that came to be cited in court judgments. His second book Your God, My God was inspired by a conversation he had with a stranger beneath the Statue of Liberty in New York, and explored world religions through the argument that compassion lay at the center of all religions. He also wrote Wills and Settlements, a concise guide intended to help senior citizens approach estate planning with clarity and simplicity.

His Tamil works reflected an effort to make spiritual literature easier to understand. These included Moksha Dharmam, Thirumalai, Avikoru Patrukombu, Kanden Kamalamalarpadham, simplified interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita and Vishnu Sahasranamam, and a widely appreciated retelling of the Mahabharata and its philosophy. His final published work was his interpretation of the Thiruvaimozhi, which he released just two months before his death.

A deeply charitable man, TSR quietly donated 20% of his income throughout much of his life, continuing a tradition of generosity inherited from his father.

He remained sharp, curious, and intellectually active almost until the very end, leaving behind a remarkable body of work and influence across law, literature, religion, cricket, and public life.

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