CHENNAI: If success was measured by money, N S Chidambaram would never have made it to any shortlist, let alone bag an award. But this retired school teacher is a winner. Ariviyal Oli, a Science magazine in Tamil conceptualised and brought out by him, has touched several lives across the state. That he was chosen for the National Award for ‘Outstanding Efforts in Science and Technology Communication through Print Media, including Books and Magazines’ by the Department of Science and Technology was only but natural.Says the 66-year-old zealful teacher on his award, “I am happy. I have served Science for 40 years. This is recognition.” But it is not the award and recognition that has kept him going. It is the call of Science, he says with a smile.“If Science is taught in English, how do you expect students and common man to understand the concepts?” he asks. Thus was born Ariviyal Oli.The magazine’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it dissects of the most complex scientific phenomena and presents them in the simplest of language. “Ariviyal Oli has no formulas or calculations. My focus has been to explain basic Science and mathematics to all. Hence, language has to be simple,” Chidambaram says.“In fact, the success of the magazine can be gauged by the fact that it is liked by all. I know of a peanut vendor, Veerapandian of Virugambakkam, who subscribes to the magazine to quench his thirst for astronomy. He calls me often,” Chidambaram asserts. “We carry an article on astronomy in every issue contributed by Dr Iyamperumal of TN Science and Technology Centre. In fact, he is the one who recommended me for the award,” he maintains.For all the 2,000 copies that it sells across the state, Ariviyal Oli is a one-man show, says Chidambaram. For, he is the one who runs around for contributions, edits and proof reads the magazine, posts it to the mailing list, fixes the postages according to the addresses and looks at means to mobilise the money for the next issue. “The magazine is now priced at `120 and we run completely on the subscription charges. I am going to get one lakh rupees as part of the award which I am planning to plough back into the production of the magazine.”His interest in bringing out Ariviyal Oli stemmed from the fact that during his 33-year stint as the Physics teacher of Dr Guruswamy Mudaliar TTV Higher Secondary School in north Chennai, he was instrumental in bringing out a similar magazine called Arivu Chudar which was discontinued in 1991 after a 19-years successful run.It is his zeal to promote Science among the masses that keeps Chidambaram going. To put it in his own words, “My satisfaction in life is my service to the student community and building awareness in Science among people. I want to go on with this till the end of my life.”
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