CHENNAI: Many don’t fear death. They only wish effortless death, i.e, without any complication. I too wish the same. But for many people, it does not happen. In my case also, it will be so Cho S Ramaswamy famously said in his question and answer column in the November 2 issue of his Thuglak magazine. A month after the issue came out, he passed away, following a cardiac arrest.
Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy (82) died here in the wee hours of Wednesday at the Apollo Hospitals. He is survived by his wife Soundara Ramaswamy, son Rajivakshan alias Sriram and daughter Sindhuja. He was admitted to the hospital recently over respiratory complaints. He suffered a cardiac arrest around 2 am, and the end came at 3.58 am. For more than one-and-a-half years, he has been in and out of hospital. Despite his ill health, Cho continued to contribute to Thuglak. His last public appearance was at the 46th-anniversary celebrations of Thuglak on January 14.
From the childhood, the family members used to address him as Cho. In a drama Thenmozhiyal, written by Koothabiran, a small role was given to him. The name of that character was Cho, as per his wish. Following the success of the drama, the name Cho stuck on.
Cho, a multi-faceted personality, registered success in all his endeavours. He was a successful lawyer, dramatist, journalist, actor, writer and a master of political satire. Born in Mylapore in Chennai on October 5, 1934 to Srinivasa Iyer and Rajammal, Cho completed his school studies in PS Higher Secondary School and later did his graduation in Loyola and Vivekananda Colleges. He received his BL from Madras Law College and served as an advocate in the Madras High Court between 1952 and 1962. After this, Cho served as a legal advisor to TTK Group of Companies.
He started penning dramas from 1957. In 1970, Cho launched his popular Tamil weekly Thuglak and remained its editor for 46 years.
During the Vajpayee regime at Centre, Cho was nominated as Rajya Sabha member between 1999 to 2005. There, he had posed many a question on national interest and spent his MP’s Constituency Development Fund for the public.