SIVAGANGA: Manikandan says being a teacher and a tourist guide is all the same. It entails the sharing of knowledge with others. A full-time French language teacher, and a part-time tourist guide, with a 17-year track record of guiding both local and foreign tourists, Manikandan can’t think it differently.
The 41-year-old from Sivaganga, who has consecutively won the Best Tourist Guide award for the second time in the 2022-23 edition of Tamil Nadu Tourism Awards, has no regrets. He had started out with a bachelor’s degree in hotel management, and begun his first job as a cook at a restaurant in Chennai.
He was so fond of world history and the French language right from school, that the thirst to know more was never really quenched going into his first job. Eventually, after completing his post-graduation, a master's in tourism management, Manikandan obtained his tourist guide license in 2007 and began working as a tour guide based in southern Tamil Nadu. During the years between 2010 and 2013, he worked his way to an MA and MPhil in French and became a full-time French teacher at a private school.
“In classrooms, I teach students the French language and its history, and in tourist spots, I have the same responsibility to furnish tourists with information regarding the history and culture of the locations. I feel tourists are the same as my students,” he says.
A regular weekday for Manikandan would be teaching French to students from 7 am to 3 pm, and engaging with college students as a guest lecturer at Alagappa University, Karaikudi, from 4pm to 5pm. During weekends, Manikandan is usually found near Chettinad palace, working as a tour guide for English, French and German tourists, as well as local travellers.
Manikandan mentions he has had many opportunities to serve as a guide for French writers, and recalls one Emily who had travelled to Karaikudi to write about the Chettinad region in 2020. He sometimes even guides local tourists, groups, as well as travellers, out of pure interest, without any remuneration. “Once some school students had come out to Chettinad for an excursion, and I told them all about the architecture and history of the region, out of pure excitement to share my understanding with the youngsters,” he reminisces.
One of his students even went on to become a French teacher herself. CP Rudra Devi (22) from Karaikudi, is currently employed by the same private school as Manikandan. She recalls meeting with him in Class 7, and inspired by his teaching and fascinated by the French language, went on to study it. She adds that, in the near future, she is also looking to apply for a tourist guide license. “There are very few women tour guides, I would like to enter and expand prospects for women,” she says.
A Shankar, a Sivaganga tourism officer, said that while there aren’t many tour guides in the district, Manikandan has worked hard to establish himself as the district’s French-speaking guide. He also participates actively in government-run school tour programs and gladly offers children guidance without anticipating any payment in return.