The Hindu Business Line : Passing of a banker-economist

IT was a shock to hear of the sudden passing of Dr T. K. Velayudham, a good friend, a great professional and a true gentleman to his finger-tips. Only on Sunday, February 29, he was invited to deliver the 100th talk of the Institute of Economic Education of which he was the illustrious chairman from its inception 10 years ago. He spoke on an intriguingly worded subject "Re-building the Indian Economy". He was at his best, giving no indication that death was barely four days away.

He distinguished himself as an alumnus of Madras University, with a first class and first rank in MA (Economics), followed by a Ph.D. from The Bombay University. From a probationary officer he rose to the position of an Advisor in the Reserve Bank of India, leaving the stamp of his luminescent expertise on his study of issues pertaining to economic analysis and policy planning, and foreign exchange management. The RBI effectively utilised his communicative abilities by making him the principal of the Bankers' Training College. His contribution to long-range research of financial and monetary issues and resolution of balance of payments problems during his assignments with foreign banking institutions was equally significant.

Whenever I had the occasion, I used to publicly salute him not only as a creative, and even daring, thinker but a spell-bindingly lucid exponent of complex issues. Indeed, even when he spoke extempore, it was in neatly arranged paragraphs down to the correct punctuation, and his speaking style — calm, cool, collected, cogent, well-modulated — matched the depth of the content. Had he been born in some industrial country, with the same background, scholarship and experience that he had, the academia and the media would have made him a world-renowned cult figure. Certainly, he towered above many who have received tremendous synthetic build-up in the West.

Author of many books, particularly on banking reforms and foreign trade, his latest, published a year ago, on trends and issues in globalisation won high praise for its clarity and grasp of the implications of a vast and complex subject. It comprehensively dealt with every aspect of it, and true to his calling as a policy adviser, also gave a practical blueprint for coping with it from the perspectives of developing countries, in general, and India, in particular.

His wide circle of friends will miss him deeply. Public life is the poorer for his departure. I feel diminished by what is to me a personal loss.

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